Brink Of Solitude
by black13dragon
Summary: a girl loses her family and friends, she appears in Traverse Town, and Leon and the gang take care of her, LeonXOCXOC, LeonxOC in the end, Rinoa gets mentioned once or twice. R&R. no, OC doesnt die.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note:

she may seem like a Mary Sue and that's because of her past, but I wanted to make her slightly depressed and not overly cheery, also she's not like Charlie, I tihnk Charlie's a bit too... happy for a person of her age, no? so I made this story. it's in Kingdom Hearts, cause that way I can make up the events like I want to, Sora'll pop in every once in a while, the story begins when Sora wants to end all of this in the first game, and it continues to the second...

happy reading!

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She ran. she couldn't stop running; if she did she would be a goner. She ran and ran, until her legs began to hurt, she panted and stopped, she couldn't run any more. she stopped and fell to the ground, tired, pained, angry and scared, she'd been running away for quite a long while, she had fought them when they began to get too close to her, but at that moment when she was about to give in and give up, she thought about all the people who died to save her, died trying to protect her and her country, her friends, her family, her soon-to-be husband, everyone, the mere thought of them made her stand up. she pulled out her katana from it's strap on her back and a gun from it's place on her right thigh, she waited for those yellow-eyed black creatures of the darkness, she saw them coming, saw them trying to reach her, trying to get her heart, she stood in a battle stance and took a deep breath.

_I'll do this for them, I can do this, I can, just like he taught me, I'll go down fighting, like they did... Blaze... I'll miss you. _

A moment later, she ran her katana through five of them, a gun shot killed a row of them, she slashed and hacked, she shot and kicked as many as she could until she couldn't stand up and fight anymore, she fell on her knees, then on her side and grew numb as she fainted, the last thing she saw was darkness and a sudden blinding light.

_What happened? _

_What's going on?_

_Where are the others?_

_Am I dead?_

"Hey, you!! Wake up!" someone said as they began to shake her numb body, "hey!!" the person was female, younger than she was, a bit of a childish hint to it.

"Ouch." she murmured, her eyes fluttered open to reveal bright mesmerizing emerald-green orbs, she groaned as she tried to move her body, pain shot through her limbs making her wince, she looked around the room, and noticed that she wasn't where she used to be, she looked up at the 'assaulter'. "Where am I? Who are you? What happened?"

"I'm the grand Ninja Yuffie!" she said as she pointed to herself with a proud grin, she had short black hair and wore a strange choice of clothes, she had a giant shuriken strapped to her back, and she seemed to be no older than eighteen. Ash gave her a small smile, "Welcome to Traverse Town!"

"Traverse Town? But I was in Xenotol..." Ash wondered aloud.

"Xenotol? Hmm... You'll have to ask Cid 'bout that." She said thoughtfully, "so, what's your name?"

"Ash, but what happened to me and why am I here?" she asked.

"Because... Oof! Squall's better at this than I am, you'll have to wait for him to get back and then you'll know." She said, she gave Ash a grin and continued, "Let's meet the others! Aerith wants to see you."

She grabbed Ash and pulled her all the way out of the room, and into a living room of some kind, it had a big blue door.

"Hey guys!! She's awake!!" Yuffie yelled to the surrounding people, all of them turned towards them.

"Hey." Ash said shyly.

"Hello, I'm Aerith, what's your name?" said a girl She had green eyes and long brown hair tied in a braid with pink ribbons. She wore a long pink dress, a blue belt, and brown hiking boots.

"I'm Ash, nice to meet you." she said with a little bit of confidence, the woman standing before her seemed too kindhearted to be real.

"Ash? Doesn't that mean Fire Warrior?" asked a bearded man, he wore a long blue robe and was brandishing a wand around the room, she gave a nod and he said, "another warrior? Well, the more the merrier! I'm Merlin by the way."

"Fire Warrior, eh? Well I'm Cid Highwind, Gummiship expert." said an older blond man seated on a couch.

"Gummiship? I think I heard of them, they're those blocks that make up a ship that let's you travel form one world to another, right?" Ash asked, while her hand was placed near her jaw in a thoughtful gesture.

"Yep, who told you 'bout'em?" He asked, looking at her general direction.

"My father, but I guess he's long gone now... along with everyone else I know." She said, her breath shook as she tried to contain her emotions like she always did when something bad happened. _Calm down, calm down... I won't make a good first impression if I break down in tears in front of them, now would I?_

"what was your home world called?" he asked again.

"Xenotol, but it's not really my home world, my home world is Hollow Bastion. ever heard of it?" she asked looking around at the surrounding people's faces, they all nodded, "as you know, it got gobbled up by the Darkness, and my family and I ended up on Xenotol."

The door suddenly opened and a brown haired man stepped through, he had a scar running diagonally across the bridge of his nose and stormy gray eyes, he had a very handsome face and he wore several belts and lots of leather. He seemed to be in his mid twenties.

"Hey Squall, Ash's awake!" announced Yuffie.

"It's Leon." He said coldly and walked towards Ash, he looked her up and down, checking for wounds, and when he found none he took a step back and folded his arms across his chest.

"Are you gonna tell me what's going to happen?" asked Ash, he gave a nod.

"But first tell us what you know."He said as he walked towards the couch and sat down.

"well, I know that the darkness takes hold of the worlds, I donno what these creatures are, but I know that they have their own pathways to other worlds, I know that these creatures are after hearts, so they must be after the worlds' hearts, right? and I know that when a world gets 'gobbled' a star goes out, I know that several worlds and several people have been lost to the darkness, I know that there is a possibility that I might not see my friends and family again, and I know that I am very, very lucky to have actually escaped their clutches." She said in one go, and began to catch her breath.

"You're well informed." Leon, who seemed impressed, stated, "We don't know what's going to happen to you now, or how you'll manage, but if you want you can stay with us."

"Please and thank you!!" She said with a smile, he gave her a nod and looked at the two girls behind him then at the one in front of him.

"Come on, you need to know your way around town, but you should get dressed appropriately first." He said as he pointed to her clothes, she looked down and saw them tattered and shredded to pieces, it was a wonder that it hadn't fallen off all that time, she blushed a deep shade of scarlet and nodded as she walked towards the two girls.

"Is she my size or your's?" wondered Yuffie as they went up the stairs.

"No offence guys, but… I dislike short clothes," pointing to Yuffie's clothes, "and anything pink." She pointed to Aerith's clothes this time.

"We'll find you something." Aerith said reassuringly, she ended up wearing a mixture of Aerith's clothes and Yuffie's. she wore a black and white faerie style dress that reached just above her knees and covered up all the necessary places, it was a lace up corset style at the front with white ribbons, and the straps formed an X at the front and at the back. she wore a pair of black and white converses from Yuffie, and she had a white ribbon for her hair from Aerith.

"Perfect! Sora bought this for me, but I thought it was too dark for my taste." Aerith said as she clapped her hangs together.

"Sora? Who's Sora?" Ash wondered aloud.

"I'll explain on the way, ready to go?" Leon said as he walked towards the door, Ash gave him a nod and followed after him.

"You're from Hollow Bastion?" asked Leon, looking towards her over his shoulder, she gave him a slight nod and he continued, "so are we, now we're helping other people who lost their home to the darkness to settle into this town."

"Why'd I come here of all places?" she asked.

"Because Traverse Town is like a waiting room, you loose your home, you get here, and you live safe, and then go back to your world once it's restored."

She nodded, silence followed after, "what do you guys do here all the time?" she said, breaking the silence.

"We go to other worlds and help others, either to protect them or to help them protect their world." He said, "This is the first district, you can find Cid at the accessory shop, the three ducks in the Items shop over there, a restaurant here, and a postcard delivery." He said as he pointed to the places in the district, they walked though a big wooden door, and he continued, "second district, the hotel, several shops, the alleyway and... I forgot its name..." he continued walking, going down a staircase and then turning around a corner and through a smaller wooden door, "this is the third district, it's not much, but we usually hold festivals and celebrations here. Merlin lives there."

"wow! This place is amazing." She exclaimed. He gave her a nod, and continued.

"Sora is the keyblade wielder, he's the one that closes all the keyholes of every world," he said, "he passes by every once in a while, so I'm sure you'll meet him soon."

it was her turn to nod this time as they walked back towards the Hotel.

"I suppose we should get you a room." He muttered as he opened the door to the second district. They continued walking as they went into the Hotel and showed her the room.

"Thanks, I hope I'm not causing you any trouble." She said softly with a small smile.

He nodded and muttered, "No problem."

"So you're my room mate?" said Aerith as she entered the room, Ashley gave her a shrug and a nod.

"Me and Squall share a room, Aerith and you are gonna share this one. We're in the green room." Yuffie said as she walked in after Aerith.

"I hope you don't mind the bright redness." Said Aerith quietly, pointing towards the rooms general direction.

"You can switch with me if you want! Squall-"

"Its Leon." Leon said.

"Sleeps like a log and he's no fun at all!!" Yuffie continued her sentence.

Ash chuckled in response and shrugged. "as you wish."

"yay! Aerith's my roomie!!" Yuffie cheered.

"And our room is where?" Ash asked Leon.

"Green room, next door." He replied, she nodded, and walked outside the hotel.

"If you don't mind... I need to take a walk by myself..." she said as she walked out of the room and out of the hotel.

"Leon." Aerith called, he nodded and went after Ashley.

"I'll go keep an eye on her, if anything happens I'll interfere." He said.

"thank you." Aerith called after him.

He nodded as he gave Ashley a head start and then followed after her.

Ashley walked as she thought of her family, she had been trained to be used to it, to be prepared, she **was** prepared –or she thought she was, but it was practically impossible now that it has actually happened, she never expected it to really happen, it wasn't something impossible but she didn't think it could happen to them.

Everything... gone...

What was she to do?

All alone, by herself, no one to take care of, and no one to take care of her.

Her home... her family... her loved ones...

All...

Gone...

She knelt on the ground of the empty third district; she cried her heart out, her hands on her face falling flat on the ground, gripping herself tightly, looking for something to hold on to, she held on to herself the only thing she had left, and it wasn't something great, not great at all...

Leon stood on the balcony in the third district, he had gotten there through the second district, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, all to keep an eye on her.

He saw her crying, saw her desperation and sadness, the woe of watching everyone you know die, all of them falling into the darkness around you, it was horrible and he knew it, he saw **her **fall, it was something he worked so hard to forget, but he never could, one cannot forget something as important as that.

He jumped down from the balcony once he made sure that she gave vent to her sadness, he walked towards her, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Ashley?" he called.

she looked up at him, her eyes blood shot and red, he gave her his hand as she took it and helped her stand up, she coughed into her hand and turned away from him, she took a deep breathe to settle herself.

"Be prepared... "She muttered, "that's what they tell you when you board the ship... tell you not to make relationships with anyone or else you'd be heartbroken... none of us... thought it'd actually happen... "She took a deep breath and her voice shook as she continued, "I... was prepared... I thought I was... but-"

"It's impossible," Leon said, interrupting her. "It's impossible to be prepared to loose someone close to you."

"I know that now." She said with a nod as she bowed her head down, she let a sole tear fall down from her eyes, she closed them, trying to stop the tears from falling, but to no avail, "I'm sorry... I didn't want you guys to see me like this..."

"It's not wrong to cry, it's natural," he said, "it's... human."

"I guess it's hard to be one..." she said, "I'm willing to give up my heart any day, so I can stop these emotions from ever coming back."

"I highly doubt they'd want you to do that." He said, "Come on, let's go."

She nodded and turned to him, wiping her tears away.

"What're you? My guardian or something? Or are you a stalker?" she asked jokingly with a small smirk.

"Stalker." He replied sarcastically.

"Oh ma gawd! That's so creepy!" she said, as she covered he mouth and let a small giggle, "am I that amazing?"

"..." he averted his eyes; a small, very faint, practically non-existent blush appeared on his face. She giggled and walked ahead of him a little skip to her walk.

"What're you doing?" he asked absent-mindedly.

"nothing." she said, she turned around to face him and gave him one of her well-known smiles. "How'd you get that scar?"

"From a fight, he cheated." He replied.

"**He** cheated on you?" she asked, holding back a small smirk, "with whom?"

"He used magic on me, I'm not gay you know." He said exasperatedly, she giggled at him and slowed down to walk beside him. They entered the hotel each sporting a certain expression, Leon had a frown on his handsome face and she had a small smirk.

"I know that, you're too... to be one." She whispered, leaving him to fill in the blanks, she headed towards the red room, and opened the door after knocking.

"Come on in! Time for some girl talk." Squealed Yuffie as she pulled Ash in.

"Girl talk?" wondered Leon and Ashley aloud.

"No Leon's allowed!" she dragged Ashley in and slammed the door shut in Leon's face.

He walked away towards the green room for some rest, he sighed as he walked in.

"She's different..." he muttered and closed the door behind him.

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review!! please review! tell me what you think, and if there's anything wrong tell me so I can fix it! pleaaaaaaase:D


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: hey people! thanks for those who read this and for those who reviewed! gives cookies so, this is chapter two, it's not filled with intense action or anything, action is still a bit later.. well enjoy:D

REVIEW!

**Chapter 2!**

"Ok, so, 'Girl talk' turned out to be pretty… lame." Ashley muttered as she entered the green room, Leon, who lay on the bed on his back, looked up at her as soon as she entered.

"Oh?" 

"Yeah, since when is 'I like apples! No, I like candy more!' a girl talk subject?" she questioned. He shrugged and continued inspecting the ceiling. "You don't talk much do you?"

"Guess not." He muttered.

The door suddenly burst open and Yuffie pranced into the room, she walked towards the bed and picked up the sheets and the pillow, then walked out. Both Leon and Ashley shared a look of confusion, or in Ashley's case a what-da-'ell look. Yuffie walked in again and threw a substitute of what she had taken and glanced towards the wardrobe.

"What're you doing?" asked Ashley.

"I'm moving my things, silly." she headed towards her target quickly.

"oh no you don't!" Leon sprinted towards the wardrobe and stood between it and Yuffie.

"I'm taking my things!"

"No, you're gonna try and take one of my belts and my jackets, I saw you eyeing them." Leon muttered.

"whaa? I did no such thing!" 

"Not at all! I didn't catch you trying to take one a few weeks ago. You? Never!" he said sarcastically, and folded his arms across his chest.

"I wasn't going to take one!" Yuffie said stubbornly.

"Sure you weren't…"

"Yuffie, just take your things and go…" Ashley said exasperatedly.

"Fine…" Yuffie sighed angrily; as Leon stepped aside his arms folded across his chest and leaned on his side of the wardrobe.

"Done yet?" he questioned monotonously.

Yuffie didn't answer him and walked out of the room muttering under her breath.

"Night…" Ash called after her and got no reply in return. "Goodie…" she stated sarcastically. Leon shrugged his shoulders and jumped back into bed, and gave her his back. "'Night Leon!"

"Yeah, 'night." 

She too jumped into bed and lay down to sleep, but sleep never came, all she did was twist and turn in her bed, her thoughts were clouded with images of her family and friends, eventually she did cry but she made no sound, and once she had no more tears to cry, sleep overcame her, and one last thought echoed in her brain.

_Keep it together… no more crying… they'd never want you to cry for them… and crying is weakness and you know it… stop your damn crying and LIVE WITH IT! Life goes on…_

_Never forget them!_

Sunlight peeped through the windows, hitting her eyes and making her wake up fully, her internal clock had woken her up just before the sun rise, but she was too mentally and physically tired to wake up to see it.

She propped herself up on her elbows, and looked around the room, Leon had apparently woken up but his jacket was thrown on his bed and his sword was still in his half opened case. She stood up and prepared for a morning walk and breakfast.

She walked out of the room and into the red room to see both Aerith and Yuffie still fast asleep, she walked into the blue room to see no one.

"Hey. I was about to wake you up." Said Leon, she spotted him in the hallway walking towards their room; Ashley gave him a smile and a nod.

"Internal alarm clock, it's very useful." She said as he nodded to her.

"Is anyone else awake?"

"No, I don't think so, both Aerith and Yuffie are asleep, I haven't seen Cid anywhere." She answered as she watched him pull on his leather jacket. "Are you up for a walk around town?" 

His movements stopped momentarily, and soon nodded and resumed checking his gunblade.

"Is it hard?" she asked, he looked up at her confused, "to use a gunblade, is it hard?"

"At first yeah it is, but when you get used to it, it becomes a part of who you are." He said philosophically, she nodded and followed him outside the Hotel.

A dog barked as they walked around town, Leon turned towards the source of the sound as it got louder and was accompanied by loud foot steps, two white black-spotted dogs -Dalmatians to be exact. They approached Leon and one of them weaved its way around his legs and looked up at Leon and barked. Leon bent down and petted the dog and soon picked it up.

"Hey Lucky, why are you out here?" he muttered, half to himself and half to the dog in his arms, "Sora worked hard to get you all back to your parents."

It was Ashley's turn to be slowly tricked into picking up the other.

"That's Dipstick and this is Lucky." Leon introduced, "these guys got separated when their world vanished."

"Poor guys." she said as she looked down at them, Leon headed towards the Alleyway, and walked into a big blue double door. 

"this is where they're kept, Pongo and Perdita, the parents, take care of them most of the time then either me or Aerith pass by to check up on them." Leon said, he walked around the place introducing her to Pongo and Perdita and the rest of the dogs he knew.

They sat there for a while as they petted and played with the dogs, soon enough Leon stood up and announced that they should et going before 'Aerith panics and goes on a rampage' as Leon so kindly advised. 

"Where've you been?" asked Aerith eagerly as they entered.

"Walking around town, Ashley met the Dalmatians." Said Leon quietly, and he leaned on the wall near the door.

"oh? What do you think? Cute aren't they?" Aerith asked as she washed the dishes.

"Cute? Definitely!" she answered, and continued jokingly, "I want one!" earning several chuckles.

"Sora'll be here in a few hours." Cid muttered sleepily.

"yeah, it's been a while." Leon muttered as he stood up and walked out the door, "…going to train." 

"hey Ash? Wanna bake a cake?" Aerith asked.

Ashley nodded as the two began baking a cake even though Ashley never could bake, most of her the time it resulted in bad experiences but that was back at home.

"And we're done!" Aerith said as she clapped her hands together, they had finished covering the cake with chocolate syrup. "It looks delicious!"

"Sora'll arrive in an hour or so." Ashley announced.

"I guess we can wait for him." Aerith said, as she picked up the cake and placed it on a platform and covered it up with a top.

"what about Lunch?" Cid asked, Ashley's stomach sounded at the mention of lunch.

"Ashley? Can you go get Leon so we can eat?" Aerith requested.

"But there isn't any food!" exclaimed Cid.

"I'll make some, by the time those two come back, it would be ready." She answered calmly, "Now, Ashley, can you go?"

"Will do. See ya later, guys!" Ashley said as she walked out the door, grabbing a towel on the way, and into the streets. From what she heard, Leon liked to train somewhere in the Alleyway, something about the sewers.

She finally located the area, and entered it to see Leon training tirelessly in front of a small lake. Naturally, she stayed quiet and watched as he swung his Gunblade left and right, with such expertise that it seemed as if he was born to use it, elegant in his flexibility and strength, Ashley held a new sense of admiration towards the man.

Choosing to snap out of her reverie, she ran up to him, and sadly interrupted him in mid swing.

"What?" he asked as he took the towel from her hands, "thanks."

"Cid's starving, and Aerith wants you to come back home so we can eat." She stated.

He nodded and sat down on the ground, trying to regain his breath, his arms keeping him up; Ashley sat down beside him Indian style.

"Can you train me?" she said, he looked at her in confusion, "I'm not that good at fighting, so can you train me? Blaze- I mean, someone taught me how to fight a long time ago, and I'm a little bit rusty, so can you train me so I can get better at it?"

He nodded in response, silence ensued after that.

"If you use a gun and a sword, why not use a gunblade?" he asked. Ashley had a momentary look of surprise but it quickly vanished, it was the first time he began a conversation with her.

"Because It's too hard, and I love using them separately, guns for long distance," she said as she held up her arms and did something resembling firing a gun, "and the sword to do the rest." She let her hands drop by her side after she did a swooshing motion that resembled a sword.

"Nice combination." He said, nodding. He stood up and pulled her up with him, "c'mon, Let's go."

Lunch was delicious, Sora arrived moments after they washed the dishes, Ashley and Sora's first meeting was quite entertaining.

"I'm baaack!" yelled Sora as he entered the Blue room.

"You're baaack!" exclaimed Yuffie as she jumped up to greet him.

"Welcome back, Sora." Leon said quietly.

"Welcome back." Aerith greeted kindly.

"I see you're back." Muttered Cid.

"Why's everyone ending their sentences with 'back?'" Ashley muttered to herself, "So, you're Sora, huh?"

"Yup, that's me!" Sora said, as he pointed to himself.

"It's nice to finally meet you; I'm Ashley, Leon talks a lot about you." She greeted.

"He does? Waaw! I never knew Leon liked me so much." Sora teased.

"Well, that's a first!" exclaimed Yuffie.

"Don't get so happy about it, she's joking." Leon sighed exasperatedly, looking towards a chuckling Ashley.

"I couldn't help it!" she mumbled.

"Sure you didn't." he muttered sarcastically, and closed his eyes as if to block the world.

"Okaay, so, what's Ashley's story?" Sora asked enthusiastically. Ashley began to tell her story in short form, just as she had before when she told the others.

"At least you belong to the same world as this lot." He said positively.

"True." She nodded, "anyway, Aerith and I made a 'welcome back and good luck on your adventure' present for you."

"Really?" he asked, grinning big.

"Yeah, here y'go!" Ashley said as she helped Aerith bring out the cake.

"Waaw! Thanks guys!" grinning bigger than before, if that could even happen.

The group dug in, as Sora began to tell them all about his adventures, Donald, a duck who happens to be a wizard, and Goofy, a dog-like creature that held a shield, joined the gathering.

"I'm going to finish this once and for all, I'm going to find Maleficent, I heard she's in Hollow Bastion." He ended.

"I'll install the navigation gummy for ya." Cid suggested.

"So, we're finally going back home?" Yuffie asked excitedly. 

"Don't get too excited, it might not work, it all depends on you guys." Leon said as he pointed to the trio before him.

"But between the three of you, Maleficent doesn't stand a chance!" Ashley said trying to lift up their spirits, Aerith and Yuffie nodded to back her up.

"I'll install the gummi as soon as I'm done." Cid said as he pointed towards th piece of cake in his plate. A while latter, after most of the cake had been devoured, and many stories had been told, Sora, Donald and Goofy, with Cid, stood up to leave.

"Thanks for the cake! It was great!" Sora said happily. "Nice meeting you, Ash!"

"Pleasure's all mine!" Ashley called after him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three:**

"Hey, Ash, wake up." Leon called, and repeated "wake up." He shook Ashley awake.

"What?" she said irritably.

"You should start packing." He said quietly as he got up. He pulled up a suitcase from underneath his bed and threw it on his bed, then he knelt again and pulled out a second one, "here, take this." He said, and gave it to Ashley.

"Thanks," she stood up and took it, throwing it on her bed in turn, "but where...?"

"Pack first and I'll fill you in on it later." He ordered.

"Yes, sir!" she said sarcastically, and saluted him. He glanced at her sharply making her drop her arm and move to the closet, to get what little clothes she could pack. She soon realized she had only two sets of clothes, the dress from Aerith, and her old clothes that Merlin had restored with magic.

So she trotted to the room next door, intending to talk to Aerith about her lack of clothes, on the way, she ran into Cid and Yuffie, the two seemed to be bickering quite loudly, Ash greeted them on the way, but the two ignored her.

"Aerith!! I don't have any clothes!!" she said upon finding Aerith.

"Oh? Well, why don't you and I head for the market, With Yuffie of course?" She suggested kindly.

"That would be great, thank you."

"Good." She said with a kind smile. Ash walked out of the room, and went back into her room, to find Leon walking out of it.

"Where are you going?"

"To train, I finished packing my things." He replied without looking back at her.

"Good luck." She muttered under her breath, she walked into the room, and pulled on her old clothes, which consisted of black leather boots that reached to her knees, black pants that went into the boots and a green T-shirt to go with her eyes, and a black wristband on her left hand.

a knock on her door told her that she was needed, she opened the door to see Cid standing there, toothpick in hand.

"Ya ready?" he asked, once Ash nodded he continued, "Aerith told me take ya with me, because ya have nothing to do anda well aaah... I need the extra hand, so yer comin' with me." He said pointing to himself.

Ashley nodded and followed him out the Hotel.

"We're goin' to the Hangar, to give ya some lessons on how ter use a gummiship, ya got that?" he asked, not wanting an answer, "do ya know how ter use a gummiship?"

"Kinda, I had one back at home; I was one of the fleet, you know… the fighters." She said scratching the back of her head. Cid nodded to her and they continued on their merry way.

"So this is Shira, my pride and joy." He said, pointing towards a gummiship, it was beautiful, it seemed to ft more than ten people comfortably, and it was in excellent condition.

"We're gonna use this ter move the people that belong ta Hollow Bastion there," he said then he walked towards another ship to the left of Shira, "we're gonna need another pilot for this ship, because there's a lot of people to move."

"Why can't Leon? Or Aerith? Or Yuffie?" Ashley questioned.

"Y'mean you don't want the job?" Cid excalimed angrily, placing his hands on his hips.

"n- no! that's not what I mea-" she was cut off.

"sure ya wouldn't," Cid said threateningly, "Anyway, this is the Ragnarok, Leon owns it but he can't fly it to Hollow Bastion because he'll be bossin' us around, Yuffie's airsick, and Aerith prefers ta go last, and well… she's crappy at it."

"ah, makes sense," she said, she passed him and headed towards the Ragnarok, it was red and had several markings on it in black "its beautiful."

"yeah, innit?" Cid said proudly, "Leon's sure got great taste."

"flattered," a voice said flatly, who Ash knew to be Leon's.

As soon as she noticed she gave him a warm smile and continued inspecting Ragnarok.

"the ship is in perfect condition." Cid said confidently, but Leon glanced away at the words, as if he knew something he didn't want to tell Cid.

"yeah, about that-" he began. Ash had vanished behind the huge ship, and reappeared as soon as Leon began to speak.

"yeah it is!" Ash said, cutting in, "but uh.. I 'd like to spend sometime with it," she said, winking at Leon as if she knew his secret, "y'know, to get to know it a little."

"sure, go ahead," Cid said gladly, enjoying the fact that he found a fellow ship master. Ash gave him a smile and glanced at Leon.

"I'd like to stay here if you don't mind," Leon said carefully, "to show you around."

"I don't mind," Ash said with an inviting smile.

"well, I'll see ya guys later, Aerith wants me to tidy up my desk and clean …" he continued talking to himself, as he walked out of the hangar and out of sight.

Ash phew-ed, and gave Leon a smile.

"I guess we should get to work, huh?" she suggested, "that's quite a bad mark you left there."

"I know, but even if I own it, Cid would kill me." He said shaking his head, and taking of his jacket to throw it on a nearby chair.

"understandable." Ash said with a nod, "well, here's what we're gonna do…"

The two worked on the Ragnarok until no sign of it ever being hit existed, Leon had left a large mark, where the paint was removed and a dent was there as well. After Ash and Leon finished working on it, it had no dent and was painted the same color and with the same designs on the ship, it took them a while but they did it, they had to remove sheets of metal from the body and bang it until it was dent free, a bit of spell casting and angry banging did the job, they drilled them back in place and painted over them, it took them a while to find the exact same color of the ship, it looked like a rusty red, and they found it in the end.

The two chatted for a while, Ash had somehow managed to make Leon tell her how he got the ship, but he had cut out large bits of the story, for example, the reason for his being in space, it seemed unreasonable for Ash that Leon would jump into space without a solid reason, he wasn't the type of person to do something so stupid. Yet he did not tell her, Ash chose not to press on the subject, thinking that he will tell her someday.

"done." Ash said stepping back, a look of content on her face.

"wow, I didn't think it would be this good." Leon said, apparently impressed.

"yeah, well I know my way around a ship, gummi or not." Ash said with a smirk, "c'mon, show me around so that Cid would actually believe us."

Ash stepped into Ragnarok, followed by Leon, the inside was bleak but interesting, she walked around the place and saw that it had several rooms, and the cockpit would fit several people, plus the meeting room was comfy.

"I know that this is your ship and I have nothing to do with it, but it's kinda dull, no offense, but I mean it's not colorful and its so bare, and there's no plant in sight, it's hardly suitable for a man like you, or for carrying families from world to world." She said with a small smile as if apologizing.

"I know, but I don't have the time to do anything with it," he said, sitting down on a black leather coach.

"I would help you, but I think you'd bite my head off." She said looking away.

"I wouldn't do that." He said flatly, "You can do whatever you want."

Ash saw an opportunity to make a small perverted comment, but she knew he'd scowl and walk away, so she held it back and gave him a nod and a smile.

She sat down beside him and sighed, unintentionally noticing how good he smelled, she closed her eyes and gave a small smile, enjoying his presence, upon realizing that she shouldn't think like that, her eyes snapped open and her smile slid off her face, she glanced at him, he a thoughtful look on his handsome face, and a hint of sadness in his eyes, his arms were outstretched on the back of the coach, and he was looking down on the ground. When he noticed her eyes on him, he blinked and looked up at her, he raised an eyebrow and she smiled at him.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked, "you look too worried for it to be a normal thing."

"It isn't," he said quietly, he sighed and closed his eyes for a while, "I suppose I should tell you my story," he said and opened his eyes to look at her.

Her eyes seemed filled with hope, her normally distant look seemed to have vanished into thin air, a look of interest, attention and admiration replaced it. She smiled and turned towards him, completely facing him and giving him her attention.

"I'd be glad to listen if you wish to talk," she said kindly.

"You're a lot like Aerith you know, all the kindness and politeness, just like her, but…" he trailed off, shaking his head, "you're different, not like Aerith or Yuffie but a still like them." He went silent for a minute as if to find a way to begin, "no, you're like Rinoa."

She gave him a confused look, attempting to find the answer in her brain or in his eyes, no answer was there, "Rinoa? Who's Rinoa?"

"She's," he began, then stopped, "She's someone special. I suppose you asked Aerith about my behavior, right?" Ash nodded, wondering how he knew, "its obvious you did, you've stopped trying to make me talk, and well, I overheard you by mistake. Anyway, she told you that I lost a lot of people I cared about," Ash nodded again, "it is true, Rinoa was most important to me and I lost her to the darkness, I don't even know if she's alive or not, but I know that the Heartless took her from me, they took her, my friends, my Family, everything. I had nothing." He took a brief pause, "years ago I was the emotionless ruthless leader, a lone wolf, but when Rinoa and the others came along, they slowly pulled me out of my shell, when I finally admitted to my feelings, and was finally happy, two years passed and the Heartless came along, my whole world crashed and fell apart before me, I couldn't do anything, they fell one after another, Zell, Selphie, Irvine, Quistis, Laguna and Sis, the Headmaster and Edea, Seifer, Fujin and Raijin, and lastly," he stopped suddenly, as if the word would tear him to pieces.

"Rinoa." Ash said it for him.

He nodded silently, and continued, "I've been searching for them ever since, and I met these guys the day she was gone, they were our ride off the planet." He took in a deep breath, "I've been helping people into safety, and I will never surrender until I know what happened to them. I changed my name around the time I made up my mind, I was Squall Leonhart, the Commander of Balamb Garden, and Balamb Garden held elite mercenaries, trained in magic and combat, and I was their commander."

Ashley nodded, taking her time to take it all in, let it sink it, see it from his perspective and Rinoa's, her heart ached in agony for how he felt, her thoughts on him were completely jumbled now, and his story was even more tragic than she expected, sadness and understanding swelled inside her, and she dreaded ever experiencing that feeling, but she already had, when she lost her world and everyone she knew and she experienced it again when he told her his story.

He stood up, saying Aerith would be waiting for her, but Ash jumped up and embraced him. Leon, naturally, felt uncomfortable, he didn't like hugs or anything of that sort, and it was so sudden that he failed to understand why.

"I understand," Ash said quietly, "I know."

He blinked repeatedly, slowly comprehending, his mind seemed to be slowing down, and it was probably because of all the emotions that came back to him. He brought his hand up, and patted her on her back and nodded, muttering a quick 'thanks'. Ash pulled away and smiled. no hint of the tears he was used to seeing in the eyes of whomever he told, she was smiling, brightly even.

Her words echoed in his mind, _'I understand'_. He gave her a faint smile in return. She walked out of the Ragnarok, and stood outside, as he climbed out, she changed the subject into something much more light-hearted, on the way back to the Hotel.

"so, Mister Leonhart," Ash began, "why do you like lions so much?"

"what makes you say I like them?" he asked, noticing it was a stupid question once he said it.

"The necklace, the 'Leonhart', the hairdo, the Lion engraved on your gunblade," she said counting a few things on her fingers.

"What about the hairdo?" momentarily reaching up to touch his hair.

"All 'Lion's mane' like." She said, glancing up at him, she held his pendant in her fingers, trailing its lines with her fingers, she turned it over, it read: _Sleeping Lion Heart_. "interesting."

"to answer your question, I simply like lions, their brave, powerful, proud, and beautiful."

"touching." She said sarcastically, he frowned at her and she gave a giggle, "kidding, it makes sense." She continued, "well, I like wolves, their so elegant, graceful, fast, powerful, and beautiful."

"touching." He mimicked.

"hey!" she scowled, "no mimicking!!"

He chuckled silently and opened the door for her and followed her in, Ashley commented saying "ladies first, huh?" and she headed towards Aerith's room.

**err... sorry for uploading so.. so... so... so... late, but I... well I have on alibi, so I'm sorry, If you want to kick my a go ahead, I wont mind... and please review, like it? love it? want to kill me? please tell me.**

**Love, **

**Dead Authoress**


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

hey guys, sorry for the late update, but uhhh... inspiration has been lacking, and my mind was on some other story that is really important. anyway, this chapter is very long, that's to make up for it being late, and uhh... there's a bit of perverted-ness here and there, and Ash will be teasing Leon from now on, i can't wait for Cloud to show up so she can annoy the two!! anyway, she may seem a bit perverted, and you may think she's hitting on Yuffie for a second, but it's all for the sake of her having fun, also Leon's tendencies to respond are fairly frequent. waw. that's a very long introductory note... but when I've been deprived from sleep for a while i get like that... anyway, hope you enjoy this, and umm... there's a possibility you'll find single letters here and there, so you'll have to guess the word. Microsoft Word doesn't help.

Read, Enjoy and REVIEW!!

**Chapter four****:**

"Hey, what happened to going shopping?" Ash asked Aerith once they entered the room.

"Oh yeah! Go get Yuffie and we'll head out." Aerith told Ash, who did as commanded.

"So, Leon," Aerith began, "what do you think about Ash?"

"She's ok… I guess." Leon muttered quietly, sitting down on the couch.

"Ok? That's all?" Aerith asked.

"Well… she's-" Leon began, but Ash bolted into the room with Yuffie hot on her heels.

"Damn it Ash!! You ruined it!!" Yuffie yelled.

"I'm sorry but I didn't think you'd be pranking a sleeping Cid!!" she said indignantly.

"What happened?" Aerith asked calmly.

"Uhh… nothing!!" Yuffie said innocently.

"Not gonna ask." Leon said shaking his head.

"Since when do you ask about anything?" Yuffie snapped at him.

"Hey, hey, give the guy a break, he's just not the curious type, I mean, he's definitely not gonna be another Yuffie anytime soon." Ash stated.

"Hey!! Is that an insult?" Yuffie yelled.

"Man, you don't even know if you should take that as an insult or a compliment, he's definitely not gonna be another you anytime soon." Ash said, shaking her head.

"Definitely not." Leon said.

Yuffie was inches away from pouncing on Ash and ripping her to shreads.

"Geez, I know I'm amazing but not to the point of having you take me right here right now…" Ash said sarcastically.

And it was at that moment that Yuffie finally attacked, it was like a game of cat and mouse, Ash ran around the table, throwing random objects over her shoulder at Yuffie, and when it was time for them to stop Leon had to intervene. He simply stood up, and when Ash was close to running past him, he managed to trip her with his foot, she almost slammed into the ground but he caught her by the collar and threw her over his shoulder, and when Yuffie came to attack he held her away with his other arm. A psychotic girl trying to get at him from one end, and a deranged girl slamming her fists on his back yelling at him to let her go from the other.

Aerith picked up a pan and approached the trio.

"If you two don't quit it, I'll give this to Leon." And immediately the two quieted down.

"No fair." Yuffie pouted.

"Life's unfair, kiddo." Leon muttered, purposely annoying her.

"shuddup, old man." Yuffie yelled.

"ah ah ahh… I'll give this to Leon." Aerith threatened.

"who's side are you on? Mine? Her's? His?" Ash yelled.

"Shut. Up." Leon said quietly, "the two of you."

The tone in his voice alone made the playfulness in them wither away, and they fell silent.

"You know, you're scary…" Ash muttered.

"And no fun." Yuffie added.

"Do I look like I care what you think?" Leon asked threateningly.

"You mean you don't care what **I **think of you?" Ash asked, mock heartbroken, "ouch, my heart… it's broken…"

"It's okay Ash, he's an idiot, you'll find someone better." Yuffie consoled her, and the two burst into a fit of laughter.

Leon dropped Ash on the couch, and pushed Yuffie on it as well, and walked away from the two.

"So, when are we going?" Yuffie asked, once the two quieted down.

"Now." Aerith said throwing the pan in place, "see you later, Leon."

"Yeah, later." Yuffie yelled, and the two walked out.

"Hey, umm… sorry if we annoyed you back there." Ash apologized, Leon nodded and a faint glint in his eyes appeared momentarily.

"Since when do you go shopping?" Leon asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Ah, well, I must, I have no clothes. But it's not as if I want too." Ash denied.

"Of course not." Leon nodded, "well, have fun-" Ash raised her eyebrows, "try. Try to have fun, then."

"Are you getting nice on me, or is it just me?" Ash asked jokingly, the two chuckled, and she walked out, "will do."

"Hey Ash," Aerith called, "this is yours," handing her two very large munny pouches, "you had them when we found you, but this is just a small amount of what it was, the rest is back home."

"Thanks Aerith." Ash said, a grin forming on her face as an idea came to mind.

Shopping was something every girl is supposed to enjoy, almost. Ash was one of those exceptions. A long series of shops later, hundreds of outfits were tried, they were bound to find something that Ashley liked, but there was no such luck. Ash refused all that is short, pink, feathery, girly, yellow, hot pink, too feminine, frilly, and dressy, which eliminated most of the stock the shops had.

Aerith had bought something from one of the shops, and as she took out her wallet and opened it, Ash glimpsed a picture of a blonde man.

"Who's he?" Ash questioned, after Aerith paid for whatever she bought.

"this is Cloud Strife, he's a guy we all knew from Hollow Bastion," she said, and so she began telling her Cloud's story, from Sephiroth to Zack, she told her about the shinra company and mako and the turks, she told her pretty much everything about the guy.

"Do you think I'll meet him?" Ash asked her, indirectly asking her whether she thought he'd come back or not.

"Probably, I have faith in him, I'm sure he'll come back some day." Aerith said, as she put the picture back in her wallet. A few shops later, Ash was getting tired and desperate.

"Its okay, Ash, we'll find something for you." Aerith said determinedly.

"Just one more shop to go." Yuffie muttered, in exhaustion, her shoulders were sagging, and she was slumped forward. Ash giggled softly at Yuffie, but couldn't help but agree.

They entered the shop, searched the place, and came up with a couple of choices for Ash.

"This looks good." Ash said as she walked out of the dressing room. She wore a blood red hoodie; that had the word 'Phoenix' written on it on the front, with a small drawing of one on the back of her shoulder, a white top underneath, and black jeans pants that had a black and silver belt.

"Totally you." Yuffie said nodding, "I mean, if you weren't a girl, I'd take you right here right now."

"So what if I'm a girl?" Ash said jokingly, suppressing a mad laughing fit at Yuffie's reaction.

"I guess it's suitable." Aerith muttered disapprovingly, looking at Ash's choice of clothes.

"But I'm gonna need a pair of shoes." Ash said, ignoring Aerith's disapproval. She chose a pair of black Adidas originals; that had red and white lines crisscrossing it. A long while later, Ash decided to put her plan into action.

"Hey guys? I think there's a form of communication we lack." Ash stated, as she bounded towards a shop, it had a large sign reading 'Mobile communication'.

She got out of the shop, a proud smirk adorning her features, as she carried a large stack full of boxes from one shop to another. The other shop intricately designed the outside of the goods, while another applied the necessary systems, with Ash telling them exactly what she wanted, another shop had those boxes wrapped up and ready to go.

"Let's go." Ash said, excitement clear on her face and in her voice.

"HEY GUYS!! I'VE GOT SOME PRESENTS FOR YA!!" yelled Ash as soon as she placed her goodies on the kitchen table, a second later, Cid ran into the room eagerly, with a not so interested Leon following behind. "first of all, as you know, every day, we all go our separate ways, Cid to work, Yuffie to casually annoy anyone she encounters, Aerith to take care of all of us and the house, Leon to train or terrorize Heartless, me to get lost in this huge place, so, without further a due, I introduce to you: the personalized mobiles!!"

"Mobiles?" Leon questioned.

"Yeah, I know it's kinda silly, but..." Ash said, scratching the back of her head with a cheesy smile on her face.

"Silly? You mean awesome!!" Yuffie exclaimed, she had been waiting to find out what was inside these boxes ever since Ash kicked her out of the shop.

"Anyways, who wants to go first?" Ash questioned, "Aerith?"

"m-Kay," Aerith approached the table, and Ash picked up a box wrapped in pink ribbons. Aerith carefully removed the ribbons and the cover, slowly opening the box to reveal, a white and pink swivel-push mobile, ornately decorated in a floral design. "Ash! You shouldn't have!!" she exclaimed, hugging Ash as a thank you and proceeding to show the others. When she opened it, the selected theme had a light pink background with a flower growing across the screen from the bottom left corner.

"Cid." Ash said, a grin on her face as she handed him a box wrapped in yellow ribbons. When he opened it, a blue bar mobile with a little airplane engraved on its back, lay in the box, he picked it up, a wide grin forming on his face, as he pressed a few buttons, the screen lit up and he watched a little gummiship fly around on the screen.

"Thanks kid, you shouldn't--" but Ash gave him a sharp glare.

"Stop saying that, guys, it's a thank you gift for taking care of me and letting me live with you when i had nowhere else to go." She said with a grin. "Yuffie." Handing her a green box. Inside it, a silver flip mobile lay, on the back a ninja star was carved with several others surrounding it, when she flipped it open, a ninja star shot out on the screen and zoomed around, lodging itself to the side of the screen. "By the way, all the themes are about the things you like."

"Awesome!!" Yuffie said, sporting a large grin "thanks Ash!!"

"No problem." Ash replied with an equally large grin on her face, "Leon, this is supposed to go with the whole lion-look you got there." She said, handing him a box wrapped in silver ribbons. He ripped it open to see a black flip mobile laying there, on its back, the same lion engraved on his gunblade was there, he flipped it open to see a picture of Ash grinning. A faint blush appeared on his face accompanied with an irritated frown.

Ashley burst into a fit of mad giggles at his reaction, "haha, I was just-hahahaha- kidding..." a few soft giggles continued as she changed the theme into the one she actually found to be compatible to him. A blue background appeared, and a lion's face was slowly sketched on until it seemed completely life like, it shook its head and its mane moved about, then it roared loudly, making Yuffie jump up in alarm, it then threw up it paw, creating a clean rip at the screen.

"Wow." Leon muttered, appreciation clear in his voice, a smile slowly appeared on his face as he looked away from the screen towards Ash's hopeful face.

"You like it?" she asked.

"Yes, definitely." His smile widened. Suddenly, Ash's mobile was in his face.

"Hold it, you look too hott for me not to take this!!" she said, a button click after, and she celebrated taking her first photo. "Wow, my mobile is so awesome, it didn't miss a single detail!!"

She glanced at Leon, to see his reaction. A smirk had replaced his wide smile, "damn it..." she muttered, holding up her mobile to take another picture of him.

"So... you think I'm hott?" Leon asked her, his smirk never fading.

"Who wouldn't? Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror?" Ash blurted out, immediately covering her mouth.

He simply raised his eyebrows, and shook his head. He took her mobile from her hand, and look at the cover and the theme. It was a ruby red flip mobile, on the front a miniscule picture of a phoenix was engraved, and on the back the side view of a wolf.

"A wolf, I knew it." he said, a small smile on his face, a glint in his eyes as if it was an inside joke between them.

"Hey Ash, who's this box for?" Yuffie asked her, pointing to the last unopened box. Ash moved towards it, leaving Leon to inspect her mobile.

"That one's for Cloud." She said, picking it up, and walking away.

"Cloud? You know Cloud?" Cid asked her, Ash saw Leon's eyes flicker towards her, which told her that he was listening.

"Yeah, Aerith told me about him." Ash said over her shoulder as she walked out of the room.

"Aerith?" Leon asked her faintly, "why?"

"Because she asked me, and well..." Aerith answered, her words were lost as tears began to fill her eyes, and she turned around and ran for the red room.

what a sensitive idiot... sorry, but i think Aerith has a thing for Leon seeing as she's always around him... man it's annoying... yes, I'm jealous! what's it to you?? grr... anyway, Ash is very perverted, which is odd.. but we like it!! and umm... Leon seems to like it too!! haha!! Anyways, did you like this chapter? no? well, tell me about it!! please? :D see ya!!

Sleepless maniac,

Zambadoneh the zalattamboneh... say that quickly!! bet you can't!! :D


	5. Chapter 5

a teensy weensy bit mushy, actually, it's almost all the way mushy and emotional, and so is chapter six, chapter seven is action and a little bit of mushiness. so er... PLEASE!! FOR LEON'S SAKE!! REVIEW!! please!! thank you! :D

**Chapter five**

Yuffie had been convinced -for she was not good with comforting- to go to Aerith. Ash had soon climbed down the stairs with a big proud smile on her face, she was still happy that she had pleased all of them. But upon noticing that Aerith was missing from her usual place in the kitchen, it slipped and fell from her face, to be replaced with a concerned frown, it increased when she saw the pained expression on Leon's face.

"What's wrong?" asked Ash, her concern could be heard and seen.

"Nothing," he replied, but Ash gave him a look that told him he should go for the truth. He handed her the red mobile, and began to head out of the house, sure that she would follow him, "it's just that… Cloud is a very touchy subject."

"Why?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Cloud is…" Leon began, but chose to change his words, "Cloud is not the type of person who sticks around for long. How should I explain this? …His best friend, the first person he ever got close to, died in front of him, and he always blames it on himself, and ever since then, he chose not to get close to anyone, and every time we feel as if we're finally getting through to him, he leaves. And one time, he caught this deadly disease, and instead of staying with us so we could help him- he up and left. None of us even knew he had it until later on."

"Geostigma?" Ash asked -Aerith had told her about it- and Leon nodded, "but didn't they find the cure?"

"Yeah, and Cloud moved back in, everything seemed fine, until the Heartless began to show up." Leon said, "The day they took Tifa away, was the day Cloud set out on his own. You see, Cloud blamed himself for Zack's death, and he blamed himself for what happened to Tifa."

"Can I ask you something?" she asked after a while, he nodded with a faint hint of amusement in his eyes, "how do these guys fit in? Into your story I mean?"

"well, after the Sorceress War –the mission my friends and I where on, long story short, it involved killing a sorceress- a year passed, and we had to go on another mission, and then we met these guys, we had gotten quite close, and we stayed there with them, we were there through the whole 'Geostigma' ordeal, -which I caught for some reason-" at this, a look of concern flickered over Ash's face, Leon noticed it, but continued with his story. "Anyway, around that time, Aerith wasn't actually with us, she was more or less dead," a look of fear flickered on her face, making Leon hurry to the next bit, "but not actually dead, she was there but not there… she was in the Lifestream, did she tell you about that?"

"It's the place where the dead used to go, right? She died and went there, but it was like a second life; instead of dieing immediately, she went to the Lifestream, where she wasn't dead nor was she alive." Ash replied remembering all that Aerith told her.

"Yes. Cloud had blamed himself for that too." Leon added, "it was like all the 'guilt' added up to make him want to get away from every body, and hunt down the reason for his misery, Sephiroth, but that was before the Heartless took Tifa. Anyway, we had to get away from the world so we could live and start over again, we were sure we would come back sometime, Cloud wasn't with us when we escaped."

Then silence proceeded, Leon realized that Ash wasn't wearing any gloves, and he immediately noticed the ring on her finger, an odd feeling washed over him, was it fear? Worry? Jealousy? He did not know. He wondered whether she was in fact married or not, and if so to whom?

Suddenly she lifted her hand up as if to admire the ring, her hand hung in mid air. And she answered his unspoken question.

"Yes, I'm engaged, but it was not out of love." She said, a look of sadness washed over her, her hand fell beside her, and her eyelids drooped, her never-fading smile vanished, and she was quiet.

Leon was beginning to panic, had he done something wrong? It was obvious he had unintentionally opened up the wrong topic, and that had caused her to be so unhappy, He wished he hadn't, he searched for a way to make her smile again, her sadness was unbearable to him for some reason, and he mentally slapped himself for it.

"I guess it's my turn now." Ash said solemnly, "I wasn't planning on telling any of you my story," a loud laugh escaped her, as if she was laughing at herself, "but then again, I wasn't planning on being so close to you." Leon couldn't help but smirk and blush at the same time.

The two had stopped near the fountain in the third district; they had crossed the second and reached the third district without even realizing it.

"I only told you part of my story back then," Ash began, "did I come from Hollow Bastion? Yeah. Did I escape from the Heartless' clutches by flying out of there on a ship full of my people? Yes. Did we land in a world called Xenotol? Yes."

Leon looked at her face and there was a frown in place, he still felt guilty, and he wanted to get this over with so he could see her smile again, but he would rather skip this and get to the smiling part, unfortunately, he wanted to know.

"when we arrived in Xenotol, it was in Chaos, mutiny, crappy leaders, the whole deal, so, as a favor to people, a group of well trained soldiers and I, had rid the country of their crappy leadership, and told the people to nominate someone to take the throne, one thing led to another and I was chosen, my ego took over for a while, I was young -to some extent- so I accepted. There was a man, by the name of Blaze, he was everything anyone would want for a leader, brave, powerful, assertive, decisive, strong, and, as a plus, handsome, every girl sought his attention, but none did.

"when I turned eighteen, one of my advisors told me it was time for me to marry, and who but the _amazing_ Blaze could step up to it?" she said the word 'amazing' in a way that made it seem like she believed it but still, a hint of sarcasm could be sensed, "And so he did, we were great friends, and we both knew it could be nothing more -at least I did- but still, I accepted, for the sake of my people," she stopped, her eyes seemed to lose their sparkle, and she continued, " we hadn't actually had the wedding, I kept delaying it, and his work as a general put a stopper to every attempt, and the people seemed content with our engagement. But Alas, all good things must come to an end, and so the Heartless arrived, they wrecked havoc, my friends went down; for we didn't wish to leave again, and if it weren't for Blaze's training, I would've died, I passed out because I had ran and fought far more than my body could handle, and I woke up here."

A long silence followed, Leon was lost for words, he hadn't expected her story to be so sad, and she had always seemed to be happy, except for that night in the third district. He looked up at her, and all traces of sadness on her face had melted away, her eyes were closed and a small smile was tugging at the corners of her lips, she looked so serene.

"I feel… lighter." She said to him, she opened her eyes, her smile forming completely, and the sparkle in her eyes returned, the fire in her smoldering in her eyes, and all that came in full blow at Leon, who was lost for words yet again, her smile seemed one of happiness, her eyes burning green, and her face was glowing, it left him breathless. She couldn't do anything but stare. A light chuckle from Ash made him snap out of his daze, and she grinned at him. He wondered if he should do as she had done to him when she took his photo, he resisted the urge to pull out his mobile. "Leon…" the way she said his name… "Leon, you're staring!"

"huh?" he shook his head and looked away, a light blush appeared on his face as Ash continued to giggle, after he calmed himself, he muttered, "well aren't you giggly."

"Well I can't help it if I'm being stared at! With googley-eyes nonetheless!" she said, with a wide grin spreading across her face.

Leon mock glared at the water in the fountain, which he received a light nudge for. The sound of her laughter lifted up his spirits for some reason, and he couldn't help but smile at her, and it was her turn to be breathless.

The walk back was just as usual, full of light teasing from Ash's part, and mocking retorts from Leon. They had arrived to the sound of Aerith, Cid, Merlin and Yuffie talking.

"What's up?" Ash said as she entered the house, followed by Leon.

"Well, Cid says that we're leaving tomorrow not today." Yuffie whined, a frown on her face.

"Then why'd we pack?" asked Leon sitting down on the couch beside Aerith.

"I thought we'd be leavin' tomorrow but Sora said he hasn't arrived there yet." Cid said gruffly.

"No worries, it's not that bad." Ash said with a smile, watching Yuffie walk out of the room to eat a piece of cake.

"Yes. Now, how about I make dinner and you two wash up?" Aerith said as she looked at Leon and Ash expectantly.

"What're we ten?" Ash exclaimed, Cid and Aerith laughed at her comment and Leon shook his heads with a faint smile.

Then she bounded up the stairs two at a time, heading for her room, she threw herself on her bed with a sigh, she had said the truth to Leon, she really did not intend to be close to any of them, much less to Leon, she didn't expect them all to open up to her, to trust her; she didn't expect Cid trusting her with a ship –something he was very attached to- and also trusting her with their lives and the lives of many others. She didn't expect Aerith to invite her into thier group, and then trust her with something they all did not speak of.

She especially did not expect Leon to trust her with the story of his life, and the story of their life. She did not expect them to be such wonderful people, to be so trusting, so loving and caring. And she genuinely did not expect Leon to be so… amazing, she didn't think he would ever accept her, much less consider her as one of the closest people to him, even though he didn't admit it, but the simple act of letting her accompany him was a sign of acceptance, and then the act of telling her his story was a huge sign.

she did not wish to get so close to them at first, but it was hard not to after living with them, and it was even harder after being trusted with so many things, and even tougher when she grew close to Leon, she wished she couldpull away, because she knew she would have to someday, but she liked him too much to do so, he trusted her, and then his company was very enjoyable, for it was entertaining to tease him, to make him look away in an attempt to hide his embarrassment, she liked how he knew everything and seemed to be capable of doing everything, he could lead the others like a great leader, but still he cared about them like they were his family, And she was one of them to him. She thought for a second, she probably liked him more than Blaze.

At the thought of Blaze, she looked down at the ring on her finger, beautiful but simple, just like their relationship, she did not consider him more than a friend, he was not her type, he was like the jock in one's school, dumb, popular, and powerful, but still he was a close friend of hers.

She looked up with a warm smile on her face as a light knocking on the door sounded, her smile widened at the sight of Leon, at first he had a frown but it softened as he caught sight of her.

"hey." she said with a smile, Leon nodded to her, and threw himself on top of his bed. She stood up, pulling her case up with her. She propped it open, and took out a white shirt that was similar to the red one, she grabbed her towel and walked out of the room towards her bathroom.

A few minutes later, she came back in her white shirt, her hair soaking wet and a calm smile on her face. Leon couldn't help but look up at her, even with it's wet, her hair managed to look good. He shook his head lightly, as he sighed and closed his eyes. She turned her back to him as she threw her shirt in the case.

His mind wandered off a little, lingering ever so slightly on the work he had to do soon, how many families he had to ship, and how to help them and make sure they are safe, as well as his friends.

His mind quickly did a preview of what he expected to happen, he saw Yuffie running around, then he saw her sitting in the corner of a ship, her mouth covered with her hand as her face turned green; she never liked flying. Aerith would be fretting over everyone and then managing to calm them down at the same time. Cid would be yelling at people not to ruin his ship, and then he'd be piloting one. Ash… Ash…. Ash would be standing right next to him, throwing sarcastic comments at him, and helping him at the same time, and then he saw her piloting one of the planes. With a jolt, he snapped out of his reverie, he did not wish to think of what would happen if something went wrong. He grimaced as he looked at her, noticing the two black wings drawn on the back of her shirt, but that image was soon covered up with her hair as she slid it back into place. As she turned around to sit, she grinned at him.

"Don't tell me, you're staring again?" Ash said jokingly, he shook his head with a chuckle, and resumed following her every step. "Quit it would you? You make me feel self conscious!"

"What for?" he asked with a frown.

"I donno, you just do." She replied with a shrug.

"I'm not judging you or anything." Leon said, paying attention to her expression.

Ash smirked, "then what? Are you checking me out or something?" she quickly questioned him, "wow, I never thought you to be a pervert!"

"Why must you always twist my words like that?" Leon said, a light blush on his face as he looked away, no girl had ever done that to him before, it was rare for a girl to even manage to make him speak.

"Aw, are you blushing?" Ash said jokingly, leaning in ever so slightly, making him move his face away, "you are!" she giggled lightly, then smiled, "darn, I wish I was single!"

His head whipped around so fast he thought his neck was going to crack, a look of shock on his face, his eyes wide and his lips in a small 'o', Ash couldn't help but laugh.

"Would you quit laughing?" Leon snapped in mock anger.

"If you'd quit blushing and staring!" Ash retorted, her smile did not vanish, but suddenly it turned into a playful pout, and Leon prepared himself for the worst, "do you mean… you don't want me to laugh anymore?"

Twisting his words again! Leon held back the urge to scream the truth, that he wished that there would never come a time that she might never laugh again, that he always waited to hear it. He bit his lip –which Ash noticed with raised eyebrows- and searched his mind for a witty retort, "do you enjoy twisting my words like that?"

"Why, yes, I do! Especially yours!" Ash replied with a wide grin, "Now, let's go down stairs to eat!"

Leon nodded and went to get up, but she had her hand out to him, as if to help him up, pulling himself up as he grasped it. Even as they walked down the stairs they didn't let go.

* * *

yeah mushy ending huh? oh, well... PUH-LEASE!! REVIEW!! thaks for reading!! i'm gonna update tomorrow! I swear! :D

please and thank you,

Morocco Chimata youtube... er... add cheese to that.


	6. Chapter 6

for cambodia's cheese's sake! please review!! I'm glad that noe of you did, but please people!! I updated two days in a row!! please!! please!!

Chapter six:

They had their dinner, and then, Aerith marched out to bed saying she was tired, Yuffie did so as well, secretly telling them she would report back if she heard Aerith crying. And Cid left for his house, Merlin had gone way before dinner, and Leon and Ash were left alone in the blue room.

"So, entertain me." Ash commanded as she folded her hands across her lap. Leon raised his eyebrows at her and shook his head, walking out of the room and into theirs. "Touchy, aren't ya?"

He was back in a few minutes, pulling on his jacket, and throwing one of his at her. He heard her gasp, so he quickly looked back at her, she looked astonished and extremely happy, she was holding up his jacket as she stared at it.

"What?" Leon asked her as he approached her.

"I am honored." She muttered quietly, Leon shook his head, and muttered a quick 'hurry up' as he walked out.

"Honored?" Leon muttered, as she walked beside him, slipping comfortably into his jacket, a big grin was still plastered on Ash's face, "well, you should be, Yuffie's been begging me to give her one ever since she met me."

Ash nodded excitedly, her silly grin had not yet vanished. They walked into around the second district, and into the first, sitting down on the stairs near Cid's shop.

"thanks," Ash said as she smiled at him, pointing to the jacket, "it's comfy and warm," she sniffed the jacket, "mm, smells like you too," her words had slipped straight out of her mind and out of her mouth, she snapped her eyes open, and looked to Leon to see his reaction, he was chuckling lightly, looking down at the ground. A comfortable silence followed, broken by Leon for the second time since meeting him.

"You know, you don't talk as much as Rinoa," he said casually, a frown slowly etched itself on Ash's face, Leon tensed, "not that it's bad or anything," he immediately continued, but the frown had not disappeared, it only strengthened, "it's just an… observation." He said in a hopeless attempt.

"She's checking you out." Ash muttered coldly, a confused look immediately appeared on his face, she looked back at him, "that girl," she began, "she's checking you out."

And relief washed over him, he chuckled lightly at himself for panicking, when she hadn't even heard him, she was frowning because that girl was checking him out, wait, she was frowning because that girl was checking him out.

"Are you… jealous?" Leon said jokingly, but interested nonetheless.

"Tch, no! No way!" she said, averting her eyes from him, biting her lips slightly. She _was_ jealous! Oh! Leon was overjoyed, doing a little victory dance in his brain, she was jealous because a girl was checking him out! A proud smirk adorned his face as he studied her.

He heard footsteps nearing him, but he was too busy staring at her to look up, he noticed a look of disgust appear on her face mixed with anger, she was staring right in front of her, and then the footsteps stopped, and her glare intensified.

"Excuse me?" said a strange voice, not at all clear and melodic like Ash's, but more fake and high-pitched, he looked up at the source. A woman stood before him, batting her eyelashes in a hopeless attempt to woe him, her hands on her hips, a-not-so-innocent smile on her face showing her yellow teeth, and standing in a way that was supposed to be seductive. Leon stifled a laugh, as he put two and two together, and he understood why Ash was glaring so viciously, the woman was 'that girl', the one who was checking him out! Oh! It was growing harder for him to stop himself from laughing.

He casually slid his hand on Ash's, scooting nearer to her with a smile; he hoped it seemed good enough for the woman to walk away. He glanced at Ash to see her reaction, and at first she seemed clueless, but then she moved her hand ever so slightly, and wrapped it around his, then leaned on his shoulder.

"Yes?" Ash said coldly, venom dripping from her voice, as if daring the woman to make any move towards him, and still Leon was about to explode with laughter, his figure shook as he stifled it.

"Oh, ah… nothing," said the woman, as she began walking away, she glanced back at the two, glaring at Ash, who couldn't stop herself from yelling angrily,

"what're you lookin' at??" the glare on Ash's face, was strong enough to make the strongest man wet his pants, even though he was sitting right beside her, who was unfortunately close to wetting them from contained laughter. "Oh, shut up." She muttered to him sharply, as she punched him in the arm with her free hand.

But still, Leon laughed, it first started off with a light chuckle, then it grew stronger and stronger, until it was loud enough for the woman across the court to hear him. Ash couldn't be angry at him anymore; she was still basking in the joy of making him laugh as well as scaring the shit out of that woman.

"Okay, I'm done!" Leon said, as he wiped his fake tears of laughter, "that was-" and he chuckled a bit more, earning a light punch on the shoulder for it, "it's been so long," he chuckled again, "since I've laughed so hard."

"Glad to be the reason," Ash said crossly, "even if being humiliated was the cost."

"It was my turn to have a little fun." Leon muttered, a smile appearing on his face as he remembered the look on Ash's face at the sight of the woman. Ash 'humph-ed' crossly, and Leon couldn't resist teasing her, "aw, are you jealous?"

"No." Ash said snappishly, looking away, "quit asking me that!"

Her head snapped back to him, as she felt his fingers gliding over hers lightly, she saw him smiling softly, chuckling every now and then, then he looked up at her, and his eyes widened, seeming to not notice what he had been doing, a light blush appeared on his face, but Ash had an encouraging smile on her face, then she took her hand out of his, disappointment and rejection washed over him.

Then her warm hand was back in his, only this time, the ring on her finger wasn't there. She didn't look at him, as she pocketed it.

"It's fake anyway." Muttering quietly under her breath. Leon wonder what she meant, was it the ring or the engagement that was fake? they were both busy in their own minds for the moment, Ash's brain was clouded, emotions for the man beside her, and then her mind would reject them, as it would remind it of her past memories.

"Leon?" Ash called softly, "I might… have to leave soon," and the look on Leon's face made her wish she had never said those words, it made her wish she hadn't even thought of it, Leon's face went from smiling to blank in record time, anger and hurt flickered in his eyes, "Leon?" she called once again when he did not reply. Leon's look of pure hurt seemed to dissolve and it was replaced by anger.

He let go of her hand, and something in him seemed to slowly pull away from her.

"If you were planning on leaving…" he began, his voice shook, as if he was holding back his anger, "then why... why did you..?"

He stood up, ready to walk away from her, but he gave her one last glance, and began to walk away. Ash couldn't move, she wanted to get up and run after him, but her legs didn't move, like they weren't ready yet. She stood up a few minutes later, running after him, her heart seemed to cut out all connections with her brain and had taken complete control of her, she remembered Aerith telling her one time that he had become emotionally detached for a while because when he was young he was in an orphanage, and a girl he called sis was forcibly taken from him, it now made sense to her why he was so angry, he did not allow himself to grow close to anyone, for fear of them being taken away from him.

she ran to the place she thought he would be; she went down to his secret training place, she found him there, he was sitting on the ground, his arms wrapping around his legs, his head raised high, the anger in his eyes seemed to have grown, his lips pursed and accompanied by a frown, and his figure seemed stiff. At the sight of him, her heart began pumping blood faster, her legs moving harder, and then… she was standing behind him.

"Leon, it's because… because I need to find him… to find them… to tell them I'm safe, that I'm happy, that I'm… staying here, with you… with all if you…" she said panting, she got down on her knees, wrapping her arms around him in an attempt to show him that she wasn't leaving. "If I ever leave, which right now I completely doubt," she said with a smile, his hands let go of each other, "I'll come back immediately!" his hands formed into fist, as if rejecting the idea of her leaving, "or I'll… I'll take you with me!" she said hopefully, he relaxed letting himself fall back into her embrace, relief washed over her in big tidal waves. For some reason she felt like she was dealing with a kid, he was strong and powerful, he acted uncaring, but he was a kid at heart, sensitive and caring, her respect and admiration grew for him. Then as a final attempt to clear off the uneasiness, she said,

"After all, I need some entertainment; no one is as fun to tease as you." The two laughed and all the tension in the air vanished.

"You know," he spoke up after a while, "if you didn't come back… I'll probably track you down and drag you back, by popular demand of course."

They laughed lightly, and Ash's urge to make a small comment on the fact that she was hugging him was something hard to resist.

"Wow, I can't believe I could be honored for almost the same reason twice," Ash muttered, her grip on him tightened, "I mean, I am hugging you right now, and you're not kicking me in the face."

"Well, it's better to get hugged by you rather than by 'that girl', I mean, you're way more comfortable," he said lightly, and for the sake of Ash's jealousy he continued, "then again- OUCH!" he got a hard punch to the shoulder, then he laughed it off saying, "don't want a crazy jealous girl on my hands."

"Dude, you'll be having her anyway!" Ash said with a wide grin, she pulled him back, letting him rest his head on her lap, he positioned himself rightly, and then closed his eyes to relax, the sound of the nearby water calming their senses. After a while, she could hardly resist reaching up to touch his sleek, shiny, soft, copper hair, his eyes snapped open at her touch, not in rejection but in confusion.

"What the…?" he looked at her with a confused expression.

"I've been hanging around you for over a month now," she said rolling her eyes, "it's kinda hard to resist touching your hair, I mean, it's so soft looking and shiny…" she trailed off with a dreamy sigh, he closed his eyes, and let her go for it. Ash was enjoying herself very, very much, she was proved right, that it was in fact soft and lovely to the touch, she giggled silently, then stopped mid-giggle.

"I've been giggling quite a lot lately." She stated with a frown.

"And I've been laughing and chuckling a lot lately." Leon mimicked, with a smile, "oh and add smiling to that, too."

Ash laughed then asked suddenly, "what time is it?"

"Time for us to go." Leon answered, and then he stood up and helped her up as well.

"Oh, how gentleman like." Ash remarked.

"Excuse me for trying to be nice." Leon retorted, as he escorted her out, Ash laughed quietly. And their way back was the same as always.

Sleep came to her easily, and she could hear Leon's quiet chuckles of amusement carry out until he fell asleep.

Morning came, and the house was buzzing with excitement, they were all ready to go home, to their world. Leon had excused himself long before Ash woke up, she was told by Aerith (who had a knowing smile on her face for some reason) that he was out to do some things. Cid had dragged Ash out of the house the moment breakfast was done.

"yer gonna do a little test drive fer me!" he yelled to her, as he continued to drag into the first district.

"Where are we going?" she asked, for the last time they went to the hangar, it wasn't in the first district.

"There's another hangar, fer the ships that're used, and we're goin' there!" he yelled the last part, Ash couldn't help but laugh at how enthusiastic he was, "I think Leon moved the ship this mornin'…"

He opened the big giant doors, and there on the other side were a hundred doors that lead to hangars to store ships, there was no roof there, just the vast sky. the thirteenth hangar had it's doors open, there stood the Ragnarok, the lights inside it were turned on, and it still looked as stunning and powerful as Ash remembered it, the beautiful outside cover of red and black, and how powerful and speedy it seemed was just the same.

"c'mon, get in so I can see how good y'can fly." Cid ordered her, she immediately climbed in, followed by him, she looked inside, and as dull as it was she still liked it. She clambered into the cockpit, and sat in the pilot's seat, she had this sensation of control, and she grinned big, as she pressed a button to turn the system on, and everything lit up, the instrument panel, the buttons, everything, she looked up, and flicked on a few things, and then she took hold of the yoke.

"Up is down, y'got that?" Cid said, as he strapped himself in the co-pilot seat.

"Reverse access, right?" Ayame said, Cid nodded, impressed ever so slightly, because she seemed like she knew what she was dealing with. She inspected a few buttons here and there, the Navigation on the left and right, on it was the Altimeter, the air speed indicator, the heading indicator, among many others, and the Engines in the middle, she examined the indicators there, she saw a button marked 'weapons', she pressed it, and through the glass she could see something move, a pair of big guns appeared on either side of the ship, swiveling left and right as Cid moved his yoke, unlike most yokes, his could move lift and right, she noticed that there were no rudders on his side, but on hers there was. she looked up at him with wide grin.

"Ready?" Cid asked her, moving around in his seat.

"Wait. So you're in control of those?" she said, pointing to the newly appeared weapons, "then what do these buttons do?" she said pointing to the ones on hers.

"Pretty much the same, but yers controls the one up there," he replied, pointing to above them.

"Sweet!" Ash squealed, as they slowly moved out of the hangar. She strapped herself in, while Cid shook his head in disapproval, then muttered,

"It's okay, I usually drive without it, but 'safety first' after all," With a grin.

first she switched on the N2 then the fuel flow and the N1,They glided out of the hangar, and Ash felt all giddy and happy, then it was time to fly, she zoomed straight upwards while yanking the yoke towards her. As she expected, the Ragnarok was powerful, fast and endearing. Ash was overjoyed at its speed, but she was interrupted when Cid told her to fly in a certain direction, Ash did as she was told. after a while, Cid seemed pleased with Ash's piloting, so he told her to go wherever she wanted, she zoomed left and right using the rudders, experimenting with the ships speed and capability, and then abruptly she was caught in the asteroid belt of a planet, other than the big chunks of rock flying everywhere, there was also the Heartless ships, making it harder for her to fly.

"Get outta here, girly!!" Cid yelled at her, but then suddenly, all the Heartless ships piling in front of them vanished into dust.

"Who ya callin' girly, old man??" she yelled, as she fired at a few more Heartless, she zoomed forward, then to the right, getting out of the area, she panted, "sorry, adrenaline rush." She said, grinning sheepishly.

"Well, that's one heck of an 'adrenaline rush'!" he said, laughing it off.

They zoomed back to Traverse Town, and Ash landed the Ragnarok gently, a growing smirk on her face, Cid chuckled and walked out of the ship with her following him.

"Does she pass?" said a deep familiar voice, who Ash immediately knew to be Leon's.

"Yep, with flyin' colors!" Cid replied, grinning as he patted Ash on the back, who was grinning sheepishly.

"Great, so you'll be piloting Ragnarok," he said with a smile as he gazed at his ship dreamily, and then continued, "and Cid'll pilot Shera."

"So, how's this going to work?" Ash said, after nodding to Leon.

"today, we'll be going aboard Ragnarok, only the five of us, and when we check up on the situation there, we'll come back and get the people, but we'll be using Ragnarok and Shera at the same time." Leon replied, his arms crossing over his chest mechanically, "I don't know where we'll be staying there, but we'll find something."

"Comforting," Ash commented sarcastically, "but still, I can't wait!!"

She grinned big, and she looked at Cid who was laughing madly at her, he then turned around and walked away.

"I'll leave ya two, then." He mumbled, as he walked away.

"Should I be suspicious?" Ash asked Leon with a slight smirk. He shrugged his shoulders, and began walking out of the hangar.

"I guess they're up to something, Aerith's a fan of match-making, and if Cid and Yuffie join her…" he shivered as he said that, "horrible."

"Ooh, interesting!" Ash said, watching Leon reaction as he twitched, she laughed and walked out of the hangar, heading for the second district.

"Where are you going?" Leon asked her, as he walked beside her.

"I'm gonna get some equipment," she replied as she walked away, and into the second district. Leon was left standing in the first district, he placed his hands on hips, scanning the area, and then panic flooded into him, 'that girl' was standing nearby, he quickly walked out of the first district, and into the second, he looked up at the sky, cloudy and intending to rain. He loved the rain.

Ash walked into one of the many shops in the second district, as she entered she casually said a brief 'hello' to the cashier, then she went about the shop, searching for her 'equipment'.

"May I help you, ma'me?" said a man, as he approached her.

"Ah, yes, are there any canvas' here?" she asked him, looking around the tiny area.

"Yes, ma'me, what size do you want it to be?" he asked her, walking deep into the jungle of artsy materials.

"I donno," she answered, shrugging as she followed him.

"Small? Medium? Or large?" he asked her.

"How small is small?" she asked, scratching the back of her head.

He held out a small white canvas, it couldn't be bigger than the palm of her hand. Ash's jaw dropped, it was so small and tiny, it looked adorable, and she took the one in his hand, a perfect square.

"So cute!" she said, grinning at him, "but I need one bigger than this, of course."

The man nodded, holding back a chuckle at her childish behavior. He picked out a big canvas that was about 42 inches. She thanked the man as she took it from him.

"Now, sorry to trouble you, but I need colors." She said, grinning sheepishly at him.

The man muttered a 'no problem', and led the way to a nearby glass counter, she stared down at it, beneath the glass a million colors rested, she picked out a few, black, white, grey, red, blue, green, and yellow among others, she paid for them then walked out of the shop, heading towards the Ragnarok, through the first district. She placed all her belongings in one of the rooms in the ship, and then she walked back into the cockpit, noticing the access hatch near her left, she sat down on the left, the pilot's seat.

_Flashback_

_"This is gonna be an easy one, Angel." Came the enthusiastic words from the earpiece, it was a man, a man Ash knew to be Blaze._

_"quit calling me Angel, Blaze!!" she yelled at him, she was sitting in the cockpit of her fighter ship, the ship that no man or woman other than herself was allowed to touch, that way, if there was a mistake in the system, she could blame herself rather than not knowing who's fault it is, and start blaming innocent people._

_"Will do, 'Phoenix'," he said teasingly, "now, all we have to do is shoot a couple of Heartless ships; we have to stop them from approaching Home," that's what they used to call Hollow Bastion, "it's our job, Pheonix!"_

_"No shit, Sherlock," she muttered coldly._

_"You know, I'm Alpha, not Sherlock. though I always knew you had romantic fantasies about him!" he remarked accusingly. Ash rolled her eyes._

_"Shut up, and concentrate on you're job, Alpha, Phoenix." Came another voice, the commanding voice of Sierra._

_"Yes your majesty," joked Blaze._

_"Alpha." Called Sierra's voice threateningly; she had never quite got used to Blaze and Ash's humor, she was always so serious, but the two liked her nonetheless._

_The three had a job to do, as Fighters, it was to protect their home world, but they were too late, too slow, Hollow Bastion was completely eclipsed before they could finish the job._

_"Alpha! Phoenix! Ace! We're heading out, follow the Coraya!" called another voice, one that was unfamiliar, probably one of the officers aboard the mother ship, the Coraya._

_"What happened to Home?" yelled Blaze._

_"Eclipsed." He replied shortly. A one word sentence that spelled doom to their Home, even though it actually meant it. The trio did as commanded, with heavy, guitly, brooding hearts._

_End Flashback._

Ash looked down in shame; it had been her fault that her world was taken over by heartless, if she had been a bit a faster, a bit quicker, it wouldn't have ended this way. She stood up and began walking out of the ship, it was getting late, and they were leaving tonight. Her mobile rang a silly tune. She pulled out her ruby red mobile and answered,

"Aerith, dear, how are you??" she said in an English accent, she heard a soft giggle.

"hey, listen, where are you? It's getting late, and we're already lugging our stuff." She said hurriedly.

"In the Hangar, I was getting a few things. dont worry, I'm on my way." Ash said with a smile.

"what? Leon's not with you?" Aerith asked, and Ash replied with a 'nu-uh', "where is that man? He always vanishes then reappears, tsk tsk tsk, but he'll reappear on time, I guess he'll show up the instant we're ready to take off."

"okay then, toodles!!" Ash said, sharpening her voice, another chuckle and a quick 'toodles', then she closed the phone and walked back into the first district.

Mushy? Uneventful? I agree, but well, the next chapter will have... a bit of danger, a bit of mushiness and hopefully a bit of teasing... :D please review!! PLEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASE!! PLEASE! PLEASE!!

thanks for reviewing SecretAgent99!! :DD

love,

co-driveresse-for-her-brother-in-a-game,

Pixie.


	7. Chapter 7

hello people! i know its not exactly what you call a quick update but, blame it on my sleeping disorder and my friends i havent sat at home for more than two seconds for a whole week!! my brain is fried! if i go out for more than two days in row my head explodes! it happens when i talk alot too... anyway, i hope you enjoy this, it's kinda romantic, actiony, wierd, and if you ever thought there were bits of funniness then its funny. enjoy!! and RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE!!

**Chapter seven:**

"I hope he's alright," Ash thought to herself, as she walked through the first district and into the second, she was walking without a thought, her mind was somewhere else, with someone else. She glanced around, and saw a black figure walk into one of the turns; the one that led to the third district. She waved it off, thinking it must be a Heartless of some sort. She got attacked a few times by Heartless, and she narrowly missed their hits, either running or dodging away, her weapons were still being fixed by Merlin.

"Hurry up, Ash!" Yuffie yelled to her, whose head was peeking out of the door of the hotel, Ash smiled as she ran the rest of the way to the hotel, "oh wow! You're wearing Squall's jacket! Damn him! Why did he give it to you and not to me?"

"'cause... I'm awesome?" Ash said jokingly.

"Well, I'm the great Ninja Yuffie!" Yuffie retorted, posing to Ash, in what was supposed to strike awe into Ash, instead she cracked up at the sight of it.

"Ninja wanna-be." Ash muttered quietly as she walked away, but Yuffie, who seemed to have not heard her, ran past her.

"c'mon! We need to hurry, it's going to rain!!" Yuffie exclaimed, as Ash followed her into the blue room. Aerith was standing next to Merlin and Cid, the three conversing quietly together.

"Where's Leon?" Ash asked in worry, her friend was nowhere in sight.

"Probably waiting for us at the Hangar," Aerith answered calmly, though her eyes betrayed her, she was just as worried as Ash. Her arms crossed her chest and she was biting her bottom lip, next to her where two cases full of her belongings.

"I should take his things and mine," Ash muttered to the others at the sight of them, she walked out and into the green room. She bit her lip, she was anxious. Where was Leon?

Was he safe? _Of course he was, he's Leon for Blorpuddle's sake._

Was he hurt? _Definitely not, he knows how to protect himself,_ Ash reasoned with herself, _but he's not perfect, he might make a slip._

Was he really waiting for them in the Hangar? _Probably, but Leon would have told them he was there._

Ash shook her head in an attempt to clear it, even though it did not work, she glanced at the watch on the bedside table, it was late, he was bound to be either heading back or already waiting for them in the hangar.

She pulled out his packed case, the one with the clothes and possessions, and she also pulled out the Gunblade's case, it had the same symbol as the one on Leon's necklace, his name was engraved on a silver surface beneath the symbol, it was much lighter than it actually is, for it was empty, only three bullets left inside, the other three were probably already used or were in the gunblade at the moment.

She pulled out her own case, but then decided to move all her things into a black back pack, which she had bought while in town. It was much easier for her to move; she slung the back pack over her shoulder, and held the cases in her hands. She walked out of the room and into the blue room, and as she entered,

"Oh! I almost forgot, dear! Your weapons are ready for you!" Merlin announced, waving his wand about as two cases appeared on the table, one was a medium rectangle and the other a large rectangle, as big as Leon's case for his Gunblade, "I got them cases so they'd be protected,"

"Thank you so much, Merlin!" Ash exclaimed as she set down the two cases and ran towards her weapons, she tried to open the two black cases, but they wouldn't open, "uh, Merlin?"

"hm?"

"How'd you open'em?" Ash asked politely, keeping a tight lid on her eagerness.

"oh," he waved his wand with a flick of his wrist, and the two cases opened, Ash could barely resist the urge to gasp and squeal in excitement at the same time, in one case sat the parts of the Black Pheonix, her handgun, she quickly assembled it with ease, her eagerness made her work faster.

"Ash, dear, you need to give the cases a code so that they only open with that number," Merlin said, expecting her to respond, but he glanced at her and saw how fast she worked, her hands seemed to have vanished and he was awe struck.

"I don't think she heard ya," Yuffie said, her normal cheerfulness was replaced by a fuming rage, how could he give her the jacket? Not just a jacket, but _The_ Jacket, damn it!

A black oxide Desert Eagle equipped with a black rubber grip with finger grooves sat in Ash's hands, she moved it left and right in her hands, then she held it up as if she was ready to shoot, her fingers falling over each other in a perfect placement, on the side of the handgun; small flames were engraved, tinted red, a small chain hung from it, a red metal feather. A wide grin reaching from ear to ear was on Ash's face, she was so happy to be reunited with her beloved weapon. She took out the holster (made of black leather), wrapped it around her waist like a second belt, then she slid in the Black Phoenix, accompanied by several extra magazines.

Her hands slowly moved across the sleek silver surface of her katana, on the side it's name was engraved in smooth letters; the Raging Wolf, her companion in arms, she grinned as she took hold of the black grip, made of a winding black material, it's long polished blade glinted in the light as she pulled it out slowly, it's guard was a simple silver circle, with several smaller circles punched through it. She slid it into it's sheathe, black with small simple red designs crisscrossing its surface, climbing from the left corner and from the top. She grinned as she fastened it to her right side.

Ash felt complete.

"Ash? Ash, dear?" called Merlin, Aerith stood next to him chuckling lightly, and Cid was laughing out loud, "Ash?"

"Y-yeah?" Ash answered hesitantly, hoping that whatever he had to say wouldn't spoil her moment.

"If you want to lock the cases, you must pick a code." He told her, looking ever so slightly worried about her 'condition', "a five digit number, dear," Pointing to the cases' sides.

She decided to use her ID number as one of the Fighters back home, Fighter No. 41269, at the thought her hand reached up to hold the dog tag around her neck, on one was her nickname(Pheonix) and number(41269), on the other was her name (Ashley S.), gender and age (17 at the time).

She stood up, a proud smile on her face. Yuffie was about to say something when Ash's mobile rang, an electric guitar accompanied by a two drums, at the sound of the tone she knew who it was, her heart raced in anticipation, she glanced at the number and picture, and she was proved right, it was Leon.

She raised her finger to silence Yuffie, and then muttered 'Leon' to the rest.

"Leon?" she asked eager to hear from him, "where are you? Are you okay?"

"no." he said frankly, she heard him groan in pain. Her heartbeat raced in worry, and then he continued; his voice shaking, "I'm in the second district, near the third. Get over here."

"Leon, what's-" her words died on her lips as the line disconnected, the busy tone sounded. Ash was panicking; Leon was hurt and she didn't know how extensive it was. She knew where he was, and she knew how to get to him. In seconds, Ash was out the door and into the cold, wet, weather of the second district, it had begun raining.

She was running as fast as her long legs could take her. She saw nothing, she heard nothing, and she was too concentrated on getting there. How bad was it? Her thoughts were interrupted by a roar of a nearby motorcycle, A man was standing next to it, a proud look on his face, he was proud of his newly bought motorcycle.

Ash threw him to the ground, took the keys, and jumped on his motorcycle, yelling a quick 'I'll bring it back to you!!'

The man was close to tears as he watched her drive off. But then he slumped to the floor, on his knees, when he saw his motorcycle jump down to the ground floor, the railings barely missed it's belly.

Ash drove through the second district heading for the third, when she saw a swarm of Heartless gathering around the limp body of a bleeding person. Her mind screamed for them to stop as she realized who it was, Leon.

"LEON!!" she yelled, as she jumped of the motorcycle, which spun on the floor until it stopped, she ran as fast as she could, her mind did a brief flashback as she remembered the last time she ran this fast, the day Xenotol was eclipsed the day she ran for her life, this was the same, the Heartless, the running, the fast beating of her hurt, the pain in her legs, except this time she was running for his life, for Leon's life. Though she did not stop to notice these things, but something in her mind clicked, like it just realized and accepted something. "Leon!!"

She took out her gun and started shooting the nearby heartless, the .5o" bullets not missing a single target, and as she got closer, she pulled out her sword, swinging it left and right, chopping off the Heartless' limbs, she received a scratch here and there, but she couldn't care less, her mind was set on reaching Leon.

"Leon!!" she said urgently, as she slid to a stop next to him, he was soaked wet, he was bleeding, and he was on the verge of passing out from blood loss, "Leon!" Ash repeated his name, his eyes fluttered open, he smiled crookedly at the sight of her, hair soaking wet, her eyes bloodshot for a reason he didn't know, still wearing his jacket, but she was now armed and at the ready. The rain began to fall faster and harder, mixing with the pool of blood near Leon, Ash bent to him, muttering his name, then telling him to stay with her,

"Leon, stay with me!!" Ash cried to him, shaking his shoulders ever so slightly as his eyes slowly closed, they snapped open again, focusing on her face as he tried to summon the will to keep going, "please, Leon! Don't quit on me now!!"

"I won't." He said with new resolve, his hand forming a tight grip on hers, his eyes refocusing on her, banishing his hopelessness.

"Leon…" she cried again, her voice cracked, she sighed, and continued, "Leon, can you walk?"

He didn't reply, he close his eyes momentarily as he tried to sit up, but then he fell back in pain, Ash was quick enough to catch him, he growled, that attempt did him no good.

"I thought so," Ash carefully lifted him up, using the wall as support for him, "we are gonna get to that bike over there," pointing to the bike a few feet away, "now, to get there, you're gonna have to lean on me."

Leon nodded, his hand keeping a tight hold on his wound. She placed his arm over her shoulders she held him up. They managed to get there safely; Ash slashing threw the Heartless to keep it that way.

She sat Leon down behind her; his pride making it hard for him to sit in front of her, his arms snaking their way around her, griping her tightly. The rain made it slightly hard for her to see, as she drove through the narrow turn to the third district, but her determination made her blind to her pain and to anything that tried to stop her.

"Hold tight." She told Leon, as a light smirk graced her features. Leon instinctively did so, he realized what she was about to do. They were racing towards the door to the third district, and it burst open from the impact. Ash couldn't help but notice when Leon's grip tightened. They slid to a stop, as they neared the vacant house; Ash had chosen that place to nurse Leon back to health.

"What're you…?" Leon began, but he was far too tired, far too pained to protest, as Ash pulled him up and dragged him to the door of the vacant house, right after she kicked the door open when she realized it was locked. There were no beds, so Ash decided to improvise; using the table instead. She laid him down, after removing his jacket and telling him to take off his shirt, if it wasn't for the cold the two would've seemed to be red in the face. Ash laid him down, thinking of a way to stop the bleeding, she looked around for clean rags, but found them to be either wet, or dirty, going with the only option she has, she chose to use her own shirt, thanking the Lord that she always wore a tube top underneath everything.

She told him to hold it to the wound as she stared at the colossal damage the Heartless had done to him, three huge deep gashes ran down his chest, obviously caused by the offending Heartless' claws, they reached from mid chest to his left side. Blood still pooled out, Ash's look of worry was hardly unnoticeable.

"I think I'm gonna have to use magic and potions at the same time." Ash began, inspecting the wound. She rarely ever used healing magic on herself if the wounds were small, choosing to heal the hard way, but this case was different, the wounds were large, and it wasn't her, it was Leon, she couldn't leave him to heal on his own. She mentally prepared herself; she didn't exactly use healing magic frequently, in the cases where she needed healing, she would be passed out cold and her friends would have healed her long before. She bit her bottom lip, _what if this doesn't work?_ , She thought, and soon held her worries at bay, concentrating on the task at hand, "lay back, I'm gonna heal you."

Leon did as he was told, closing his eyes as he did so. Ash slowly removed the bloodied cloth from his wounds, biting back the nauseating feeling in her stomach. Her hand hovered above them, as the other hand rested on his forehead; she was going to use Xenotol magic, which was the strongest healing magic she had.

"Curaga." She said clearly. For a second it seemed like the two were frozen, the rise and fall of their chest no longer apparent, Ash was holding her breath as she healed him, and Leon's body was too busy healing itself at a quick pace to breathe. Ash's mind seemed to be in his for a moment, she was channeling herself and her strength into him; so he could heal faster. A few moments later, Ash's hand fell from his forehead, and the two resumed breathing normally, "thank God…"

Leon chuckled lightly at how worried Ash seemed that he might not heal.

"Any other wounds??" Ash asked him, scanning his body for any wounds.

"I don't think so, I'm too numb to feel anything." Leon said, he visibly shivered for a moment and he was about to get up to get himself a jacket but she held him down.

"You're not moving until I'm one hundred percent sure you're gonna be okay," Ash said firmly, walking towards the jacket she took off, it was the only thing that was not completely wet. Picking it up, she walked back to him, and handed him the jacket. She was still scanning him for any injury.

"I'm gonna sound a lot like you at this," Leon began, "would you please stop checking me out?"

"How can I resist?" Ash said jokingly, a smirk spreading across her features.

"W-what?" Leon said, startled by her quick response. Usually it always was a friendly banter between the two, rarely ever admitting anything.

"Dude, have you looked in the mirror lately?" Ash said folding her arms across her chest, wondering if she should freak him out by being perverted or not, as always she chose to do so, "I mean," leaning towards him, letting her fingers brush against his bare skin, using the most seductive voice she could sum up, "you're really…"

"Ash-sh…" Leon was truly caught off guard, he wanted her to stop, but something in him seemed to like it. The act she had done sent warms shivers down his spine. She placed a light kiss on his cheek.

"I was so worried about you!!" the seductive voice was gone, it seemed like she switched back to normal, she pulled away, slapping him upside the arm, "don't ever run off by yourself and leave me to worry!!"

"Man, you sound like my mom." Leon said, rolling his eyes, even though he was amused by her concern.

"Pervert, you can't have the hotts for your mom." Ash said jokingly, Leon's face immediately went blank, as if she had accidentally told him what he didn't know himself without her knowing it.

"You're so cocky." Leon said, shaking his head in what seemed to be disapproval to Ash's eyes, even though it was his attempt to rid himself of such thoughts.

"Just admit it, Leon, you like me." Ash said, nodding her head, folding her arms across her chest once more.

"If I agree with you," Leon began, Ash's eyes immediately zoomed in on him, "will you stop bugging me?"

"Only if you mean it." Ash said, grinning widely, she walked towards the door intending to close it. Leon shook his head at her unpredictability, and tried to get up. Leon stumbled on his feet as he felt a sharp pain in his left leg, a short yell of pain later, and he fell face forwards.

"Leon…" Ash muttered. Her chuckling beginning to turn into laughter. Leon, who Ash had caught immediately before he hit the floor, was comfortably laying down on Ash's lap, he scowled at her, "stop being such a sour puss!"

"I will if you quit laughing." Leon said coldly, Ash shrugged her shoulders and reached out for his arm, lifting him up.

"Your wish is my command." Ash said, quietly coming up with a plan. She laid Leon down on the table again, smiling lightly as she suppressed a laugh. She pulled up the clothing to reveal the wounds, she managed to position herself the same way as before, and it happened the same way as she healed him.

Ash staggered side ways, she had reached her limits. The nauseating feeling in her stomach returned in full blow, and she was ready to throw up, but she managed to calm herself, but that did not pass unnoticed by Leon.

"Are you… alright?" Leon asked as he glanced up at her, instinctively reaching towards her.

"Fine." She answered, smiling at him, resting her arms on the table to support herself, she shook her head lightly, and she felt better, "Leon, are you sure there are no other wounds?"

"I'm sure." Leon replied, nodding. He sat back down in an attempt to relax, but his nerves jolted at Ash's touch, her fingers were lightly brushing against the places where his wounds were. Immediately, his eyes opened.

"Does this hurt?" Ash asked, with a frown on her face. It was hard for her to hold back her urge to laugh at herself; it was easy to notice how hott the guy look when shirtless, all muscled and chiseled, his skin not exactly place white, more like a tanned sort of white, it looked amazing, and it was even harder not to drool.

Leon wondered whether he should tell her the truth, _no it doesn't hurt at all, it feels real good, makes my heart beat faster, my skin tingle and my blood boil. Can I actually tell her that? Definitely not! It would make things awkward and weird, and she'd probably pass it off as a joke and give me a witty comment, no, I won't tell her that, not until I'm sure._ Leon thought to himself as he shook his head, he closed his eyes, trying to take away the feeling.

She continued. Her fingers still working around his wounds, making him squirm, her hand lightly brushed against it as if to finish it off. Immediately, Leon's eyes opened. A sudden flurry of white, black and green, Leon felt something –or someone- warm, soft and light pressing against him. He blinked repeatedly in confusion, his mind was going slow on him, as if clouded for a reason, and at long last, he noticed that it was Ash.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Leon heard her say, tightening her embrace. He felt her lips brush against the base of his neck as she spoke; her warm breath sent warmer shivers down his spine. Leon squirmed, he didn't exactly want her to let go, move away from him, nor did he want her to make him feel so odd, so vulnerable. But then, Ash gave him a kiss on his cheek, his skin tingled, she smiled brightly at him, his heart fluttered. He was sure he didn't want her to go away, and he felt oddly fine with this feeling for a moment. He noticed that she was pulling away, for some reason he felt it was his fault, so instinctively, he wrapped an arm around her and let the other rest on her upper arm (which was supporting her weight). Ash grinned momentarily, and Leon returned it. She lightly placed another kiss on his cheek and pulled away. Her grin was still in her eyes, like a forever existent sparkle, a glimmer of a hope long lost, something he felt happy to see.

"Seeing as you have no shirt or jacket," Ash began quietly, her voice had that commanding, knowledgeable tone to it, "for they are either ripped to shreds, or so soaked and wet that they are unwearable," purposely inventing her own word, "I'll lend you mine. Yes it's now mine, 'cause I like it."

"Why thank you for lending me what I lent to you." He retorted sarcastically.

"I'm going to ignore you're little sarcasmic comment," yet again, inventing her own word, "we'll head back on the motorcycle I 'borrowed', and then we'll easily reach the ships through the first district door in this district."

"Alright, but what about you? You can't drive around in the rain with only _that_ on," Leon muttered, pointing to her white tube top.

"Look who's talking! You walk around in a white shirt with a mini jacket that doesn't protect you from the weakest wind!!" Ash said, placing her hands on her hips in a pose.

"I can bare it, I'm cold enough to manage 'the weakest wind'." Leon retorted. Ash placed her hand on his cheek, he gave her a confused look, but then he understood what she meant; he noticed the extreme warmness of her hand, it was as if her hand was emitting small heat waves.

"I can bare it, I'm warm enough to manage any weather," Ash said, mimicking him lightly, "well, not any weather… I get fried in summer, I get small, but frequent, heat waves from my palms and stomach, which is… weird, and inconvenient. But it's really helpful in the winter, I don't need to wear tons of clothes just to fell warm, which is a plus."

Leon sniggered as Ash had a little discussion with herself, he thought it was cute, the way her voice lowers slightly, and the way her eyes move away to the left.

"Would ya quit sniggering??" Ash snapped quietly, folding her arms across her chest indignantly, Leon chuckled lightly.

"Sorry," he continued chuckling, "really, I am!" still, he did not stop. Ash slapped him on the arm, but to no avail.

"What a sincere apology." Ash mumbled, looking away in mock anger. Leon laughed for a while and then he dramatically stood up.

"O my dear Ash," Leon began, trying his own acting, "how can I live if you are angry of me? How can I live if you do not speak to me? How can I live if you don't laugh with –or at- me like you always do? How can I live without your sarcastic comments about anything and everything? How can I live…" he trialed off, trying to find something a bit more romantic, he stood up and held her close, his movements overly dramatic, "how can I live without your bright smile? Without your bell-like laughter? Without your sweet, soft voice?" Leon noticed her stifle a laugh, and he had a hard time maintaining his posture, "how can I live… without you?"

Ash couldn't reply, she was trying not to laugh, so she bit her lips so hard that it left marks, she was turning red in the face, and tears of contained laughter were streaming down her face.

"Ash? ASH!! Are you choking??" Leon said in mock worry, his laughter filled the room as he surrendered to it.

"CHOCKING??" Ash yelled, "WHAT THE HELL, LEON??"

Ash had a tough time holding back her laugh; it was like trying not to breathe, it was in her nature to laugh, it was part of who she was. And it was really hard not to. Ash tried to occupy herself with listening to Leon's laughter, deep, masculine, and light. He stood up right, and looked at her, one eyebrow raised, she shrugged her shoulders.

"I've quit laughing." Ash said simply, and at those three-and-a-half words, Leon's laughter grew stronger.

"You? Quit laughing? Ha!" Leon mocked, Ash furrowed her eyebrows, but who was she kidding? She already knew she wouldn't last long if she kept close to Leon, it wasn't that he was silly enough to make her laugh, it was more like the thought of the imaginary comments she'd probably make and his imaginary snappy retort that made her laugh. She nodded in agreement, "then why don't you laugh?"

"'cause you told me you'd quit being a sour puss if I'd quit laughing." Ash said, immediately noticing how stupid that sounded, "That's such a big contradiction…."

"Tell you what, I'll quit being a 'sour puss', if you continue to laugh, I mean, that's how it normally would be," he said, a smile on his handsome face, a brilliant sparkle in his eyes, with a happy tone to his words.

Ash grinned big and nodded.

"And if you don't, I get to… bite you!" Ash said, displaying her white teeth in a toothy grin.

"Bite me?" Leon said, bewildered, "bite me how? Where?"

"Wherever I want!" Ash said, spreading her arms wide in joy.

"With limitations! Please!" Leon cried, he did not want to be bitten _anywhere _that might hurt, though he knew she'd never go that far.

"Fine, cheek?" Ash began.

"Cheek's okay, I guess, but not too hard."

"Never! Umm… upper arm?"

"Arms are good."

"Yay!" Ash squealed in joy, "Did I just squeal? Well, at least I didn't 'squeak'. Weird word… anyway, back to the point, fingers?"

"Fingers? That's just strange," Leon muttered, following a light chuckling fit.

"You share a room with 'strange', 'odd', 'different', 'special', and 'weird', get used to it." Ash retorted.

"Fine... I guess…" Leon shrugged. They headed out of the house like room, and into the dark wet town, into the pouring waterfalls of rain, pelting down on them. There was steam rising from wherever Ash stood, Leon noticed this and asked about it. She walked closer to him holding out her hand.

"look," Ash said, Leon complied, and as he watched, he noticed that every droplet of rain that fell on her hand, would quickly evaporate, he watched this over and over as he listened to Ash, who answered his unasked question, "it's Xenotol magic, pretty much like junctioning a fire spell or fire creature to yourself, it works just the same. So I have fire, my skin provides enough heat to keep me warm and comfortable on the coldest day."

"Impressive." Leon said with a nod, as the two hopped on the motorcycle, Leon wrapping his arms around her in a tight hold.

"Don't worry… I'm not going anywhere." Ash commented sarcastically. Leon nudged her with his chin, and then rested his head near the base of her neck. Ash struggled to concentrate on the road, Leon's closeness was driving her insane, "Leon, why so personal-space-invading?"

"You're hot." He replied simply, Ash snorted as her brain split in half, part of her was perverted and the other was innocent.

"Why thank you very much, so are you." Ash said perversely, the tone of her voice made it clear what she meant, causing another nudge to the shoulder.

"You know what I mean." Leon said, rolling his eyes at her antics, he pulled himself closer to her; the air was so cold against his skin, all he had was a half wet jacket and ripped pants that were wet all the way from the rain, and in front of him sat an extremely warm space heater, it was an obvious thing to do.

"Fine, bask in the awesome warmth of my pure awesomeness." Ash said jokingly.

"Will do," Leon said shortly, he sighed, his breath making Ash tremble, but he passed it off as nothing, "now concentrate on the road, I don't want to die yet."

They reached the hangar to see the hatch open for them to go in; Ash's usual Childish side mixed with adrenaline and a need for speed (not the game), made her speed up and intend to drive right into the hatch.

"Ash!" Leon yelled, although he was perfectly fine with it, it was his job to be Ash's voice if reason at the moment, seeing as the one in her brain was killed, "you're gonna get us killed!"

"Remind me to bite you after this." She said casually. Still not stopping, a smirk appeared on her face as she drove even faster, she reached the beginning of the plank that led to the hatch; she drove up and pulled to a stop at the top.

"Unbelievable!" Leon muttered as they got off the bike and moved further into the belly of the ship, it was still cold down there, so Ash allowed Leon to walk closer to her, and she did not mind, not at all.

"I _am_ going to bite you." Ash told him, he nodded miserably, being bitten wasn't exactly a dream come true to him, it wasn't even on 'the list of things to do before you hit thirty'.

"Enjoy it, you may not be able to do so again." Leon muttered darkly.

"No worries! I will!" Ash said with a manic grin. Leon groaned at the prospect of being bitten, he wondered what would happen if Yuffie walked in on them, he wondered what she would think, what she would tell the others, and what would happen. He shivered at the thought, Yuffie wasn't exactly the most innocent person, and she'll probably come up with an improper idea of the two.

As the two walked into the meeting room of the ship, they saw Aerith with a furious look on her face, then in seconds, a loud sound so much like a slap, a sudden gasp, and a huge red mark on Leon's face. Ash was too shocked to say anything, it all happened so fast, one moment they were simply bickering about how fast she drove, then they walked in, and Aerith was looking a the two with an angry expression, she walked over, and the next thing Ash knew, Leon's face had moved to the side awkwardly, a look of shock in place, Aerith had her hand raised, that soon dropped to her side, Yuffie gasped in shock, and Ash was confused.

Aerith walked off muttering something about 'not to happen again', and then Yuffie ran out of the room to tell Cid what happened, and Ash was left to see to Leon.

She moved to stand in front of him. She saw a red handprint on his right cheek, which she understood to be a slap to the face from Aerith, Ash struggled to keep a low chuckle from escaping her. Aerith had no right to slap Leon, but she was worried about him, and scared for his safety, just like a mother. Ash was about to laugh because of the look on Leon's face, and because no one ever survived slapping Leon, in other words no one ever dared to slap him.

* * *

For those who didn't understand that bit, it just means it's pretty and awesome.

For Metal Gear Solid 4 players, yeah I know, its sounds a lot like 'crying wolf' and 'raging raven'.

For a true Leon/Squall Leonhart fan.

Anyway, please rate!! please, please rate!! I beg you!! and i swear i'll update quicker!! i already started writing chapta eight!! waaaw!! i got three chapters left to update and i'll hit ten!! yaaaay!! :D

REVIEW!!


	8. Chapter 8

okay, i'm seriously sorry for the late update but my week has been seriously hectic, nasty, and head-imploding, aaanyway, please please review and I will update quicker this time, okay? please? this chapter is slightly mushy, Aerith pops up every now and then, and Ash and Leon have a fairly perverted moment, so yay! no wheres I think its considered T, and not M, i'm sure of that. :D

Chapter eight:

"Leon," Ash began dragging him to a seat, he sat down with a huff, as she continued, "she's just worried about you."

"Well, she has a great way of showing it." He said snappishly, a deep frown in place.

"Tell me about it." Ash muttered in agreement, "it just what a mother would do, one moment she's fretting about you and the next she's telling you off for it."

"But she's not my mother, she's not anyone's mother, I know she cares for us but she has no right to do that." Leon said angrily.

"I know that, but… well... that's just the way Aerith is."

"If she's so worried, couldn't she be a little less… violent about it?" Leon muttered.

"Not everyone is like me, Leon," Ash said jokingly, his lips curved upwards in a smile for a second, "if I get worried I turn to search and rescue mode, but Aerith goes into violent angry mode."

"mmhmm…" he relaxed, his arms letting go of each other, and his frown softened, he sighed.

"Which reminds me," Ash began, moving forward for the kill (or bite), Leon groaned in understanding, she was going to bite him.

"You know, it's freaky, creepy, weird, unnatural, strange, odd, completely bizarre, insane, and totally you." Leon commented, it was what he thought of the biting thing.

"I know, and I love it." Ash said, "You gotta say, its fun."

"Sure sure," Leon muttered disapprovingly. Ash pulled at his sleeve and bit him on the shoulder-neck area, Leon bit his lip as he held back a laugh, it felt odd, and he had no idea what to do, its not something normal to be bitten by a grown up woman person. She pulled back with a wide smirk.

"Today, for the first time ever, the remarkable Leon, got slapped and bitten." Ash said with a grin, she licked her lips and scrunched up her nose, "salty."

Leon snorted, pulling himself up.

"I need ice." He said, answering Ash's upcoming question.

"And I'll get you some clothes." Ash said. Walking out of the room, the two went their separate ways. Ash sought out Cid, so she could ask him where their things were. She found him in the cockpit of Ragnarok, doing what he did best. He told her tat they were in their rooms, room 11 for Leon and room 13 for her.

She walked down the hallway and spotted door number 13, funny how they chose her favorite number, she always loved the number thirteen because everyone else hated it, saying it was unlucky, but she was living breathing proof that it was untrue, she was born on April 13th, and her fourteenth birthday was a Friday, Friday the Thirteenth, and nothing out of the ordinary happened. She stepped into the room, taking out a clean navy shirt, the last one, the red was unclean, and the white was all bloodied and dirty. She put it on and walked out the door, and into Leon's room. She got him a shirt, pants and a jacket.

She found him in the kitchen chatting calmly with an angry Yuffie, apparently it was about the whole jacket thing. Leon seemed slightly uncomfortable, and Yuffie was too busy blowing a fuse to notice.

"just tell me," Yuffie began, Ash stood sneakily behind the door listening to what Yuffie had to say, "is it because you have a thing for her?"

No reply came, so Yuffie continued,

"Because I've seen how you two look at each other, and I noticed that she's always there with you. It's not that I mind, I'm perfectly fine with it, I think you two look really cute together," she said with light giggle, but she quickly snapped back, "Just tell me, do you?"

She heard Leon sigh in defeat, Ash new he was going to answer her so she would quit bugging him.

"I-" Leon began, but Ash burst through the doors of the kitchen, throwing his clothes to him and approaching them. Immediately, when Ash arrived on the scene, Leon took the opportunity to slip out of the room, clean clothes in hand.

"Hey Yuffie, what's up?" Ash asked her, trying to be as casual as possible but failing ever so slightly.

"Why couldn't you wait a bit? You would've known the truth!" Yuffie groaned, Ash raised an eyebrow in mock confusion, "I know you were eavesdropping on us, why did you think I asked?"

"I'm gonna ignore that." Ash said calmly, and then changed the subject, "is there any whipped cream around here?"

She checked the refrigerator, and found two cans of compressed whipped cream, she popped off the lid, placed its tip in her mouth and squeezed.

"Oh ma gawd, so tasty!" Ash exclaimed, handing one of the two cans to Yuffie who immediately did the same. The two sat down on the coach enjoying their whipped cream.

"Can I ask why?" Yuffie wondered.

"Because I didn't know if I wanted to know," Ash began, "If I knew I'd either feel relieved or disappointed," she muttered, "if he said yes, it would be awkward, me knowing and him not knowing that I know," she said lifting up one hand in the air, and then she lifted the other, "if he said no…" she trailed off, "forget about it."

"Oh! You _do_ like him!" Yuffie exclaimed in joy.

"Don't you dare," Ash pointed an accusatory finger at Yuffie, "I am confused as it is and I don't need anyone making false assumptions when I don't even know what's right! So quit trying to find out about my love life and his!"

Yuffie giggled, muttering something along the lines of 'so defensive'. Soon enough Ash got up announcing that she had to sleep.

"With whom?" Yuffie asked jokingly, laughing at Ash's reaction, who instantly yanked Yuffie's whipped cream can out of her hands and chucked it at her, "Ouch! So violent!!"

"Ya got that right." Ash muttered, walking out of the living room, up the staircases and into her room. Minutes later, a knock came at her door. She opened it, hoping that it was the only person she wished to talk to, thankfully, it was, "Leon?"

"Can I come in? I don't want Yuffie to find me, because if she does she'll continue her interrogation," he said in one breath, scanning the hallway. Ash nodded, a small smile on her lips, letting him in. he sat down on the sofa in her room, as she sat down on her bed, right in front of him.

"So, that was one heck of an interrogation," Ash commented, choosing to straighten things out quickly. Leon froze, how much had she heard? If she had even seen his face at that moment his secret -that even he did not know- would be out, "don't worry, I came in as soon as I thought she was crossing the line."

Leon sighed in relief, but still, he felt the sudden weight of his answer fall heavily on his chest.

"You mean the part where she asked me if…" he trailed off, fearing that his own voice might reveal his answer.

"Yep," she answered simply, she saw him tense up, his back straightening, his lips pursed, and his eyes wide, "relax! I came in, didn't I? I interrupted her, and you didn't have to answer."

"True," he muttered quietly, even if he didn't answer out loud he still answered in his mind, in his heart. His mind was yelling 'No' in big large letters, and his heart was definitely not agreeing with that, he didn't know what he felt for Ash, whether it was a 'just friends' type of thing, or 'brother-sister', or even that advanced type of thing that he only felt once, and it wasn't even real.

"You sound almost disappointed," Ash noted, Leon froze again, she smiled at him warmly, and then slid of the bed and in front of him, he was bent forward, elbows on his knees, and his head leaning forward. He watched her approach, "listen, I didn't want to know because… well, I'm already confused about you as it is, and finding out what you're answer is would jumble up everything."

"I don't know what my answer is anyway, I was going to say anything that would make her leave me alone, I was actually going to say the truth… that I don't know." Leon muttered in response.

"Good, we both don't know!" Ash said with a grin. She placed a hand in his, and smiled warmly, and to reassure him she continued, "you know, even if it's a yes or a no, no matter what the answer is, I will still treat you just the same, if you have a thing for me or not, you can count on it, okay?" she gave him a warm smile and squeezed his hand lightly, "mushy moment over. I feel like a confused little teenager who just discovered boys."

Leon snorted at her comment and shook his head.

"Oh c'mon! Don't make me bite you again!" Ash joked, smiling brilliantly at him. Leon chuckled lightly. She always knew how to break the ice, "by the way, because of you I only have two shirts left!"

"How is that my fault?" Leon questioned.

"I used my white shirt to stop you're bleeding, and I left it there!!" Ash exclaimed, sitting down in front of him, Leon couldn't help but smile in amusement.

"And that's my fault? You're the one who forgot it there!" he retorted.

"It's your fault!" Ash said, "no matter what you say, it's your fault."

"Whatever." Leon muttered.

"Don't you 'whatever' me!" Ash cried, glaring intensely at him. Leon gulped, her eyebrows furrowed slightly, eyes narrowed a little, nostrils flared, lips pursed, and her jaw was set in a way that made it seem as if she would never open it ever again.

"Fine!" Leon surrendered, "I won't 'whatever' you again!"

"You better!" Ash said, her face transforming from a cold intense glare into a wide toothy grin, "whipped cream?"

Handing him a can of whipped cream, he took it into his hands. His mind wondering how on earth did she get it, and why was it with her.

"look, you do this," she began, taking the can out of his hands and showing him what he was supposed to do with it. She handed it back to him, still he did not budge, he stared at her incredulously, "fine." She yanked it out of his hands, grabbed his chin and pulled his face towards her. Leon willed his brain to work, so he could stop her, give her a sarcastic remark and move on, but his body refused; wanting to see what was to happen. She pulled his mouth open, and instantly, Leon felt the sweet delicious cream in his mouth, "tastes good, doesn't it?"

Leon nodded, causing Ash's grin to widen. She gave him the can and he proceeded on his own, gaining a few light chuckles from Ash. An hour later filled with creamy goodness, Leon and Ash's faces were covered with cream, along with their hands, their laughter growing by the minute.

"I never knew you could have so much fun with a can of whipped cream." Leon commented, Ash giggled, keeping her perverted comment safely in her mind.

"c'mon," Ash said as she led the way to the bathroom. She switched on the cold tap water, washing her hands quickly with soap then drying them up with the nearby towel, and Leon soon followed in her steps.

Suddenly the door burst open.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?? THAT'S UNSANITARY AND UNACCEPTABLE ABOARD THIS SHIP!!" yelled Cid, flanked by a red faced Aerith and a grinning Yuffie.

Leon and Ash stood frozen in place, both were sporting an equally surprised look of shock. Instantly, Ash's laughter kicked in, she doubled over in laughter.

"You know, of all people, me and Leon would never-" Ash began but soon broke out in laughter.

"We thought… that you… I… YUFFIE YOU IDIOT!!" exclaimed Cid, smacking Yuffie upside the head, making her stumble forward and massage the back of her head.

"Hey!" she yelled, and so they began bickering. After a while Ash's laughter died away, Leon exited the room in what was obviously embarrassment, and soon enough, Cid and Yuffie walked out of the room shouting retorts at each other.

Ash stood alone in her room, she closed the door, a small smile on her face and a brief chuckle followed. The day was over, and another shall come. But now was the time for sleep.

The next day, Ash woke up inspired, she grabbed the 42" canvas and all the paints she bought and the brushes. She pulled open the black paint, smudging it against a little plate. She poked it with her brush, and slowly spread out all the black paint across the surface of the canvas, changing it from brilliant white to pitch black. She left it to dry, and headed downstairs to join the others in breakfast.

"Morning guys!" Ash greeted as she sat down between Yuffie and Cid, who both seemed agitated with one another.

"Hey Ash," Aerith greeted, placing a plate full of pancakes in front of the group. Leon entered the kitchen, fully dressed, and greeted everyone, "dig in."

Immediately, Yuffie grabbed five pancakes, Cid ten, Ash three, Leon four, and Aerith one or two, and the plate was empty. Each covering their food with marmalade, jelly, honey, or chocolate syrup. As soon as breakfast ended, each went about their own way, Cid to the cockpit, Yuffie to the bathroom; she 'wasn't feeling so good', Aerith was left in the kitchen, Leon left to attend to other matters related to the days to come, and Ash went to off to explore the ship. She passed their sleeping quarters, the meeting room, the kitchen, the bar like place with all the drinks, and the cockpit.

She chose to go up a few levels, after exploring for a while she went up a bit more and reached the deck. The wind blew around her, and took her off guard; she didn't expect to be able to breathe here; after all they were traveling from one world to another.

She took a deep breath, and looked around, she was walking on the top of the ship, the sky was pitch black, except for the far planets that looked like stars, she saw a ship fly off to the left.

It was amazingly calm here, the wind blew softly, and the movement of the ship did not affect her balance. She walked up the stairs and onto the platform, there was no sound except for the quiet humming of the ship's engines. She stood at the far front, closing her eyes and basking in the wind.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Ash knew immediately who it was, the voice was now part of her, she had grown accustomed to hear it.

"Leon." She muttered his name, a knowing smile spread across her features. She realized that everywhere one of them went the other would be close by, and she wondered why it was so.

"Ash." He replied, coming to stand beside her, "Cid is going to increase the speed, so you should be careful."

"Yes, sir." She muttered, sitting down on the hard metal of the ship. Leon rolled his eyes at her, and sat down beside her. Silence enveloped them; it wasn't that type of silence that a person would feel uneasy in, it was a comfortable silence that they both did not mind, simply enjoying the presence of each other.

Leon's mobile rang, a soft piano theme, meaning it was Aerith. Ash held out her hand, and Leon handed her the mobile.

"Hello? This is Mr. Leon's secretary, how can I help you?" Ash said in a very secretary-like voice, the same chuckle could be heard.

"Hello, this is Aerith Gainsborough; I want ask for an appointment with Mr. Leon." Aerith asked politely.

"Let me check," Ash said, humming a soft tune and pretending to flip the pages of a book, "Mr. Leon is free in half an hour, if you'd like."

"yes, thank you very much," Aerith muttered, struggling to keep her voice even.

"Miss Gainsborough in half an hour, sir." Ash said, turning to Leon, "we'll see you soon Miss."

"Goodbye," Aerith replied, laughing immediately after. Ash handed Leon the phone, to see him shaking his head, and giving her a palm-face move that was familiar to her, a small amused smile on his face.

"C'mon," Ash began, standing up, "Aerith wants to talk to you."

"so I gathered." Leon muttered, following after her, as they climbed down the stairs, a few levels lower they reached the kitchen.

"Leon," Aerith called, a polite smile on her face, while Leon had a serious frown on his face.

"Quit being such a teenager, Leon." Ash taunted jokingly, and immediately a small smile appeared on his face and he snorted lightly, his frown disappeared. as soon as they approached Aerith, Ash separated from Leon and moved to go to the bar like place.

"Ash?" Aerith called, "you need to hear this, too."

"Huh?" Ash glanced at Leon, who shrugged lightly, smiling briefly at the fact that she was going to be 'tortured' with him, "sure, whatever."

"okay, well, I apologies that I slapped you, Leon," Aerith muttered apologetically. Instantly, Leon felt –and heard- Ash stifle a giggle.

"can I do the talking, instead of Leon?" Ash questioned, she would have so much fun doing that. Aerith just stared at her in confusion, "I'll take that as 'what the hell are you talking about?' so, observe," Ash coughed lightly, clearing her throat in a formal manner, "Leon would like to ask you why did you slap him? Because he's been crying in the meeting room for hours and I barely managed to make him-" a painful nudge from Leon, "Ouch! Sorry?" eliciting a small chuckle from Aerith and a palm-face move from Leon and a well hidden chuckle, "I told him ti was because you were acting all mother like, I'm right, right?"

Aerith nodded, a small blush on her face, "I know that I'm not, but it's just that… I don't like to see my friends getting hurt, that's all."

"but I never got hurt," Leon muttered, making Ash snort lightly.

"yeha, not a single scratch," she muttered sarcastically, Leon nudged her in the arm again, and Aerith gave a light relieved smile, she did not notice it.

"I know, but well… Ash's exit seemed like she was going for a search and rescue, so I couldn't help but panic." Aerith said shyly.

"Ash over exaggerated." Leon lied, Ash was the only person who hadn't yet exaggerated in that room, another stifled scowl.

"Oh? Well, then, my apologies, but don't go running off by yourself without telling one of us where you are." Aerith said sweetly, giving him an apologetic smile and walking away.

"Why'd you blame me for your mistakes?" Ash questioned Leon angrily, as soon as Aerith was out of ear shot.

"Because, if I told her the truth, she would over react, and then I get slapped again," Leon replied as if it was a matter of fact, "and because I knew you wouldn't be angry at me because you will understand, and because she is now perfectly fine, and not at all angry."

"What makes you so sure that I'm not gonna be angry?" Ash questioned him.

"Simply because I know you wont," Leon said, and then continued jokingly, "you like me too much."

"Ah, on that you are right," she said, half joking half not, she knew she couldn't stand being angry at him, "so, what are we gonna do now?"

"Check up on Cid?" Leon suggested, Ash nodded in reply and moved forward towards the door, as soon as they were out, Ash raced him to the cockpit.

"I'll race you!" she said over her shoulder as she set off running, Leon raise his eyebrows at her childish behavior and soon bounded off in another direction, a short cut he knew.

"Damn it… I'm lost!" Ash muttered angrily, staring around her, she had been running for a while now, but she took the wrong turn and ended up somewhere she hasn't seen before. Beside her stood six space suits, with the helmets and all, and on the other side stood six oxygen tanks.

"I thought we're supposed to race to the cockpit," Leon said as he approached her, coming through the sliding doors of that area, "this is the air lock, you put on a suit and that hatch up there," he point up at the ceiling, "opens up and you go out to space."

"Oh…" Ash muttered, "But I was up on the roof a few seconds a go, and I didn't need a space thinga-magick."

"That's because Cid had a built in atmosphere applied to this ship, like a little aura around it that you can breathe in, but get out of that aura and…" he trailed off, sure she would understand, she nodded.

"Cockpit?" she suggested, he nodded and lead the way back.

They chatted with Cid, who told them they would reach Hollow Bastion in a few hours, and that if they want they could use induced sleep to pass the time, that Ash immediately refused. They walked out of the cockpit in silence, wondering what they were to do for five hours, and then Leon took off to train in a room full of training equipment. Ash was left to wander towards the kitchen, Aerith was there.

"Hey, wanna make cookies?" Aerith suggested, Ash quickly accepted, willing to do anything to pass the time.

"Chocolate chip?" Ash suggested.

"Maybe, but let's check the other kinds," said Aerith as she took out a book from one of the cabinets, flipping the pages, "peanut butter-"

"no!" Ash yelled, the last time she ate peanut butter didn't go so well, she shivered at the memory and moved to stand next to Aerith, "M &M's cookies?"

"we don't have any M&Ms in the ship," Aerith muttered, "chocolate crinkles?"

"Ooh! Yummy!" Ash muttered, "ah! Look at that it seems delicious!"

"The checkered cookies?" Aerith read, "But that's hard to make!"

"Blue Perunas?" Ash suggested. And so it took them half an hour to choose a type of cookies, and an hour to bake and make the cookies, then another half an hour to lure the others into the kitchen, Cid was the easiest, he simply smelled them from the cockpit.

nummy num num! cookies!! I'll give you some if you Review!! :D please!!

Pixie


	9. Chapter 9

okay, so this chapter might suck, there's part where we sort of hit something related to the main plot, but i really dont know, that part is seriously lame, so if you hated it tell me, i might change it. anyway, i hope you like it. and please review! thank you SecretAgent99 and Alumia for helping, but i chose to go with another idea to avoid the mess, and the first part is for Alumia, as a thank you for your help. :D enjoy!! i hope i did it right!!

**Chapter nine:**

"Oh c'mon, Leon!" Ash insisted, "Eat the damn cookie!"

"…" no reply came.

"c'mon!" Ash cried, "I swear it's not poisoned!"

"No." Leon simply said, getting up to go, but Ash immediately stopped him by getting hold of his hand.

"please," Ash said, and immediately, her face transformed into the most powerful puppy face he's ever seen; her eyes wide and almost tearful, her bottom lip quivered, she sniffled, and her hands were held together beneath her face, "please, Leon."

"…" Leon was speechless, torn between saying no because he had better things to do than eat cookies that probably taste worse than they smell and look, and saying yes just because of the look on Ash's face. Leon's eyebrow twitched slightly as an internal battle occurred, but before he even had time to make up his mind, Ash slammed her foot down hard on his foot making his hands drop slightly and his mouth to open up as a small curse escaped his lips, immediately he felt the cookie in his mouth, she had stuck it in the moment his mouth opened. His glare intensified, as small tears of pain appeared in the corners of his eyes.

Ash yelped as she ran as far away from Leon as possible. He slowly munched down the cookie and gulped.

"What was that for?" Leon muttered darkly, his eyebrows furrowed deeply, and his jaw clenched tightly.

"S-sorry, but I had t-to…" Ash stuttered as he slowly walked towards her, "y'know… you-you're kinda…" Ash gulped, "s-scary…"

He stood right in front of her now, she was cornered, with her back pressed against the wall, and still he kept on moving closer, a mischievous glint in his eyes, something he caught from Ash.

"w-what're you-" Leon yanked her mouth open and stuck in the same cookie in, he grinned momentarily, then leaned forward and muttered something that made Ash shiver slightly.

"This time, I'm gonna do the biting…" and he pulled away, walking towards the table, he picked up a glass of milk and drank some, then he grabbed a few cookies and walked out of the kitchen. Instantly, Yuffie burst into a fit of laughter, Aerith followed; giggling madly, and Cid was bark-laughing. Ash smiled sheepishly at them. Then proceeded to eat her own cookies.

"I'm going up to my room," Ash said, running off in the direction of said place. She bounced into her room, plopped down on the ground, and picked up the white paint, smudged it on the little plate, and then she proceeded to draw small white and grey feathers. An hour later, there came a knock on her door.

"Ash, its Leon,"

"Oh shit! I don't want to be bitten!" Ash muttered sadly, she shrugged her shoulders, perked up, and hid all traces of her current hobby. She slammed the door open, pulled Leon in by the collar, and looked up and down the hallway suspiciously; she didn't want a repeat of what happened last time.

"Cid says we'll be there in a few minutes, but the problem is," Leon began, stopping for dramatic affect; Ash wasn't exactly paying attention to what he was saying she was waiting nervously for the biting part to come, but as soon as he said there was a problem she refocused, "there is no place for the ship to land, so Cid needs another person to stay in the ship while he leaves marks for the path to get to where Sora is, and while he clears up a safe landing zone."

"Okay, I'll stay." Ash volunteered with a warm smile, Leon couldn't help but smile back; she always understood when it came to important matters.

"You should know," Leon began, "that Aerith and Yuffie are fairly festive," Ash gave him a confused look, "they are willing to celebrate anything, they almost made a party when you arrived here," Ash's eyes widened in fear, "yeah, which means prepare yourself, there's a party around the corner."

Ash nodded lightly, and Leon stood up to go, Ash had the sudden urge to pull him back and make him stay but she shook it off.

"One more thing," Leon began, standing in the doorway, his hand on the doorknob, "please tell me you're birthday is months away…"

"April 13th," Ash said with a smile, and continued "months away."

"Thank Hyne." Leon muttered in relief as he walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

A few hours later, the group parted, Aerith, Yuffie, Cid and Leon went down into Hollow Bastion to find Sora, while Ash stayed in the ship hovering near the world. Ash couldn't resist hugging Leon, he was acting all superior like and she thought he was really cute, which was odd considering the guy is older than her, and has the personality that fits the job description of a leader. Leon simply patted her on the back less awkwardly than before, a little smile on his lips could be barely seen as he walked away.

Ash was extremely bored, her only entertainment was currently giving a lecture to a fourteen year old with a big key, a duck with a wand, and a dog with a gigantic shield. So she put on Auto pilot, got her painting things, sat in the cockpit and resumed her newest hobby, in a few minutes, actually an hour and a half, her phone rang, she answered it and it was Cid's gruff voice on the other line.

"Ash! Get over her, girly!" Cid yelled.

"But where am I supposed to land?" Ash asked him, ignoring the fact that he called her 'girly' for the umpteenth time since she met him; it became his nickname for her, because it was so unlike her.

"You'll see it when you get closer!" Cid yelled again, and shut the phone. Muttering 'grumpy old man', Ash stood up and glanced down at the world, instead of it being completely covered in water with only the castle apparent, now there were rock formations and more land than water, and another castle appeared on the other side. She moved the ship a little closer to the world (after switching off the auto pilot), immediately, she saw a large outline of a circle made of fire on the ground, that was where she was supposed to land. Easily ands swiftly she landed the large ship and ran down the plank out of the hangar. She noticed a red headed girl amongst them.

"Hey there," Ash greeted, in what she hoped to be in a friendly manner, apparently it was for the girl instantly smiled, "I'm Ash, what's you're name?"

"Kairi. Nice to meet you." The girl replied, a look of realization apeared on Ash's face.

"aahh, you're Sora's girlfriend!" Ash said in joy, she had noticed it without someone telling her about it, which was somewhat rare.

"Well, not exactly, I'm just a close friend," the girl replied shyly.

"Sure sure, we'll see," Ash said, smirking as she gave the girl a wink, and immediately the girl blushed furiously and giggled, "listen, umm… I need to annoy these guys for a minute, so why don't you go up there, and go up the stairs for two levels then walk down to room 12? You can sleep there if you want, 'cause I think this is gonna take a while."

"Sure," Kairi said as she headed off, but then she turned around, "what about the princesses?"

"Ash and I will go and get them here." Leon stated simply, his arms crossed his chest, the frown on his face never vanishing. Kairi smiled and ran up the lowered platform.

"What happened?" Ash asked them, Leon had the worried frown on his face.

"Sora's gone, he went through to the other side of a portal thingy," Yuffie muttered sadly.

"But he'll live, he's gone through this much, so he'll definitely manage," Leon continued.

"Yes, but there is a huge possibility that we might not see him again," Aerith said unhappily.

"I'm sure he'll find a way to see us again," Ash said hopefully, looking from face to face, "after all, he'll be lost without us!"

The others either smiled or chuckled lightly. Cid ran into the Ship, quickly followed by Aerith and Yuffie. Ash turned to Leon, telling him she needed to get her weapons first. She ran through the ship and reached her room, she pulled out the suitcases, and got her weapons out.

"Hey, Ash?" Kairi called, the moment Ash stepped out the door.

"What's up?" Ash said, as she walked towards the girl.

"Is Sora gonna come back safely?" Kairi asked worriedly. Ash couldn't help but smile at how worried the girl seemed, she grinned big.

"Kairi, Sora is a really, really strong guy," Ash began, "he fought a lot of bad guys, and almost won against Leon," she said with a chuckle, "he will come back safe and sound, Goofy and Donald have got his back, sure they might seem easy to scare, prank, annoy, bother, and piss off, but the two have got it covered, and Sora can handle it. No worries!"

"Thanks Ash," the girl said, giggling again. Ash playful messed up her, purposely almost annoying her, and began to walk away, "oh, one more thing."

"hm?" Ash turned around slightly to look at the girl.

"Does Leon ever smile?" Kairi said, inclining her head to the side a little. Ash couldn't help but laugh.

"that's what I thought when I first met him," Ash said, "but no, he used to be like that, but he no longer is," she grinned happily, "he can laugh, smile and grin like everyone else," then she continued on a more serious note, "he's a really great guy once you get to know him."

As soon as Ash reached Leon, the two began making their way to Malificent's castle. All Ash had to say about the castle was that it was a maze, a huge gigantic confusing maze, filled with Heartless. In the end they reached a large chamber, where six elegant princesses stood, Leon and Ash approached them, told them that they were going to take them back their original worlds. The six accepted and slowly they made thier way back to Ragnarok.

The six princesses had six rooms, one for each, seeing as there were only eleven rooms (starting from 3), with seven of them already occupied, the rest had to share, Leon slept in Ash's room, while Yuffie slept in Aerith's room.

Soon enough the original five; consisting of Leon, Aerith, Ash, Yuffie and Cid, were out of the ship and heading deep into the world. They began walking around the place. They walked for a long, long while until the other castle was in sight, along with a little town. as they approached; they found several houses still intact, others a bit destroyed; apparently the black hole that appeared over the world long before -when the Heartless came- returned everything almost the same, because a few houses where in shambles, so that they had to fix, and the path to the other castle was blocked mid way, one of the walls had completely collapsed, and the former roofing had fallen down. After climbing over the wreckage, they found a place much like a ballroom, minus the walls and the roof, for that seemed to have fallen as well.

"That's perfect for an outside ballroom!" exclaimed Aerith as soon as she saw it; Leon rolled his eyes at that.

They continued walking, but their path was cut off mid way so they had to improvise, jumping from one area to another, in the end they reached a the Crystal Fissure, Ash entered before them, and stood in the middle of the place, it was a wide area filled with crystals in the walls, it looked beautiful.

"This is…" Ash began.

"Amazing!" squealed Yuffie in joy. They walked through this area, after inspecting it for a while. Ash spun around to look, and caught Leon's eyes, and what she saw made her stare in awe at Leon; his eyes shimmered from the refracted light from the crystals, and he seemed to glow slightly, the pendant that hung from his neck sparkled as it reflected the light. Ash bit her bottom lip holding back anything she had to say, whether it be perverted or simply a compliment, she held it back.

"We have a lot to fix." Ash muttered, as the five of them stood on a little cliff, surveying Maleficent's former castle. The wind blew, Ash's hair went haywire making her laugh, Aerith did this little cute clutch thing, and Yuffie's hair moved about for a while, while Leon's simply swayed, and Ash couldn't help but laugh, her mind wandering slightly, she stared at Leon's hair. So soft, shiny, copper and pretty, she couldn't help but laugh at herself.

The five of them wandered off, grouping into twos and threes, Aerith and Yuffie began chatting about a little celebration they would make one all of the restorations and renovations were finished, while Leon and Ash walked side by side quietly.

"We should make a little committee!" Aerith suddenly said, the others either agreed or simply waited for an explanation, the girl continued, "Formed by the five of us. Because of the fact that we are going to be the ones in control of the whole thing, and because we are the ones who will be mainly doing all the work."

"How about… Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee?" Ash suggested and received immediate nods and 'okay's.

"Ah! We could make little cards," Yuffie began chatting excitedly, "and flyers, and posters and…"

Aerith and Yuffie continued chatting about it for a while, and in the end chose to make the celebration sponsored by the Committee.

"When we make the 'move' we're gonna have ter cut back on rooms, and we have ta split up to two teams." Cid stated, Ash nodded and asked,

"Teams?"

"Yeah, me with Aerith, I'm sure as hell ain't gonna take Yuffie with me, she'll be throwin' up all over my Shera!" Cid said gruffly, "so yer gonna hafta handle'er."

Ash waited a bit, wondering when he was going to say where Leon was staying, but the man just continued on his way, seemingly not noticing that he forgot to mention Leon. Ash glanced in confusion at Leon, who simply shrugged and voiced Ash's thoughts.

"where'ddya think yer stayin'?" Cid said in annoyance, walking off muttering something about 'stupid idiots' and 'in denial'.

"Yeeah," Ash began, "so where are you staying?"

"Well, isn't it obvious?" Aerith interrupted the two, she sighed at the clear look of obliviousness, "he's staying with you!"

"Don't want to break up you two love birds!" Yuffie commented, and quickly scurried away at the sight of Ash's death glare. Soon enough, it ended up in a little cat and mouse game, just as always, they ran around for half an hour yelling random threats to each other, then Leon had to intervene.

"You know, you're scary…" Ash said, dangling from the edge of a cliff by her arm; as she was running after Yuffie, who as a ninja was very agile and swift, they neared a cliff (around that time, Leon was stalking after them), the ninja jumped away at the sight of the unseen cliff, yet Ash, who was not as quick, tripped and fell.

For a moment all she could hear was the quick beating of her heart, then she heard quick foot steps as her friends appeared above her, yet Leon was there before them, as if he was there before she even fell, and so she hung by the arm from the edge of a cliff, she glanced up and saw Leon clutching her arm, he had an angry expression on his face, the frown, the glare, the whole thing, he growled angrily.

He quickly managed to pull her up by the arm. Ash felt like she was about to be yelled at, because his expression was so fierce, she summoned the courage to look him in the eye, and saw anger, worry and relief, the anger slowly dimmed as he walked off with a cold yet simple 'be careful next time'.

"You're still scary!!" Ash yelled playfully, she ran after him, throwing his arm across her shoulders while hers wrapped around his, she put a hand on his as if to hold it in place, and then began to walk with the same footing as him, "but we still like you."

"Wow, you still do?" Leon muttered sarcastically, "I'm so shocked!" he continued after a while, "'cause it's not like you can't live without me."

"Literally." Ash muttered, remembering the look on his face when she fell, she giggled lightly, and then she switched her voice to a girly, high pitched sort of voice, "so, like, umm… this celebration thing, is it going to be, like, a dance? Or something?"

"Probably," he said chuckling lightly, "I wonder if you can stand to talk like that all the way back the ship."

"You got a bet!" Ash muttered mischievously, and then she began mindlessly blabbing about make-up and fashion, every now and then, she would glance at Leon, who had an amused but pained expression on his face. A while later, she began walking as if on a catwalk, with all the hip swaying, she glanced at Leon, he was biting his lip as if struggling with himself, "what?"

"Nothing," he murmured, shaking his head as he averted his eyes.

"so anyway, Yuffie told me that Aerith told her that Cid told her that you told him…" and so she continued, not exactly making any sense but still managing to speak all the same. A little while later, Ash began to violently hit on Leon which freaked him out a lot! He squirmed, blushed, and looked away, and Ash was having a hard time stopping herself, she was having so much fun seeing him like that, seeing him less businessy, less strict and more casual and comfortable, "anyway, I got a boyfriend and he's sooo dreamy, he's like.." and she began describing him, she said he has amazing copper hair, a scar, grey-blue eyes, firm muscular physique, tall, 'totally hott, right? I know!', wears black leather and a white shirt, carries a gunblade, has a ship, loves Lions, enjoys training, a real leader, his favorite breakfast is strawberry pancakes a al Ash, his favorite cake is chocolate, his favorite ice-cream flavor is sea-salt, his favorite word 'whatever…', and so on.

"y'know, that sounds a lot like me…" Leon said jokingly, and Ash suddenly froze.

"No shit, Sherlock! I didn't have much of a choice!" Ash muttered sarcastically, averting her eyes. Her heart was racing, a million thoughts were in her mind, but only one thing seemed more prominent, she had a completely new feeling towards the man beside her. She didn't exactly think of a person to talk about, she just said whatever came to her mind.

"Now now," Leon said, completely oblivious to Ash's sudden epiphany, "if you keep this up you'll lose the bet."

"So, like do you have a girlfriend?" Ash continued, choosing to continue the same subject and delaying thinking about it.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do." Leon said simply.

"Really? Like, tell me about her!" Ash demanded.

"Well… she's a great person, really funny, perverted at times, completely insane and strange," Leon said lightly, and from those words Ash knew he was simply talking about her just like she did, "has a habit of straying off, but I always manage to find her. She likes strawberries, and finds the word 'banana' hilarious," he chuckled as he remembered how he found her in the kitchen laughing aloud with a banana in her hand, "really understanding, reliable, though her driving is terrifying! ("Hey!" yelled Ash) and she has a habit of smiling a lot, she managed to make me laugh and smile too, she's very amusing, and cheerful but not to the point of insanity, even though her past is not that great," Leon continued, "she rambles sometimes, and she looks cute when she does that. She likes wolves, and her favorite breakfast is the same as mine, her favorite flavor for anything is chocolate," Ash giggled lightly at that, "I know this gonna sound emotional and totally unlike me, but she's the closest person to me, like a best friend."

"Aw… you're just so adorable!" Ash said jokingly, they laughed it off, "you know, it was a choice between describing you or Cloud, but I went with you, I know more about you."

The two finally reached the Ship; the others were a little ways behind them. Ash quickly made a dash for her room, wanting to finish her painting, besides when she painted she cleared her mind. Her mind was still racing; she had to get the emotional part over with so she could move on. Did she like Leon? _Yes! He's awesome! _Did she feel anything towards him other than just a friend? _I… probably… maybe… yes…_ Was she willing to tell him? _No!_ Was she willing to tell anyone? _NO! I'll wait it out, it'll probably pass, just an extremely late teenage crush. _

Her mind was satisfied, for the time being, she finished off her painting and happily observed it. A knock came at her door in the same simple knock that was familiar to her; while Cid had a small country style theme, Aerith had a light tune, and Yuffie kept knocking until she answered, but this one was short and simple.

"Come in, Leon."

Said man walked in through the door, and found all her painting instruments scattered all over the floor messily, he looked up at her and saw her standing in front of a small canvas covered in a white cloth, obviously the sheets from her bed, which where missing from their rightful place. Ash had a large grin on her face, her old clothes splattered with paint.

"Remember when I told you that this ship was dull?" Ash said, what was a complete lame attempt at an introduction, "well I kinda… sorta… made this for you!"

She pulled off the sheets, uncovering a beautiful painting. It had a pitch black background, like the darkness one meets when they loose hope, and little glowing white feathers falling from above, each one had its own radiance, like a light in eternal darkness, like a hope for the miserable and the desperate. So detailed and beautiful in its simplicity, Leon was awe struck, the painting was something hardly predictable from a perverted, not-so-innocent, insane girl such as Ash, but it's softness and beauty was some how expected.

"Do you like it?" Ash questioned him, her words dripping with hope. Leon did not reply, he just stared at, lost in it's beauty and simplicity, after a few seconds, he nodded, and for the first time glanced away from it and towards Ash, who was grinning happily, he gave her a warm smile that made her go all giddy and happy, "it's yours!"

"…" he was lost for words, sure he knew from the start it was for the ship, but for him to be exact? He felt a sudden rush of gratitude, and if he wasn't a guy, and if it wouldn't be completely awkward –for he knew it definitely would be-, he would have definitely hugged the girl, but instead, she did the hugging for him, and oddly enough, it wasn't awkward, as if he had grown accustomed to it, no longer feeling uncomfortable. He wondered, if it was someone else hugging him, would he accept it? Probably not, after all, he liked her best; she was the friendliest and most understanding, not the type of person to sugar-coat anything important. "Thanks, Ash. It's beautiful."

He heard her giggle lightly in a chuckle like sort of way, as she let go of him, he realized the painting lacked a frame, he would ask Merlin to make him a suitable one.

"By the way," Ash began, smiling at him like always, "I don't mean to be offending or anything, but why'd you come up here?"

"Oh," Leon said as he remembered the reason, or in this case reason_s,_ "first of all, Aerith thought that you were mad –or was it sad?- about Yuffie's comment, and-"

"Not at all, I would've said the same!" Ash said with a grin, "if not worse!" she continued, winking.

"Second of all," Leon continued, relief washed over him, she was not affected by Yuffie's comment, "dinner's gonna be ready in five," Ash nodded, and laughed as she heard her stomach groan, "and third of all, most importantly… I was bored."

"Now, was that so hard?" Ash said jokingly, Leon gave her a confused look, "was it hard to admit that I'm your source of semi-innocent entertainment?"

"Semi-…" Leon repeated, sighing at how Ash's perverseness was always there, behind every word she spoke, he wondered why, and he spoke his thoughts aloud, "why are you so perverted?"

"Huh?" Ash looked taken off guard, and then gave him a grin, "because it's fun, silly! There's no way in the seventh pit of the fieriest hell that I would do the things I say."

Leon nodded in understanding. Suddenly, he remembered something that he did not know how to bring up.

"So, man," Ash began, "when are you gonna bite me and get it over with?"

"Err… how exactly did you manage to do this?" Leon questioned her, she grinned big, started to tease him about anything and everything imaginable, starting small and going big, as if making him want to bite her, and that was exactly what happened. Ash was standing in the middle of the room, playfully taunting Leon, then suddenly, a blur of black, white, and brown later, Ash was pinned to the ground by the all powerful Leon.

"Feisty aren't ya?" Ash said jokingly, but her grin was slowly fading as Leon's face got closer and closer to hers, he had the same mischievous glint in his eyes, he leaned forward, brushing her hair away from his target, and then he swooped down slowly, he was so close that Ash could feel his hot breath on her skin, her mind was clouded, and she felt like she couldn't breath, her heart beating faster and faster as he got closer and closer, then she felt his lips brush against her skin sending warm shivers down her spine, then she felt his teeth sinking in, "ow," that was all she had to say, it wasn't exactly painful, it was more or less uncomfortable, Leon pulled back, a wide grin on his face, then his look changed, as if contemplating something, he swooped down again, and gave the same place a light peck, instantly, Ash felt an electric feeling coarse through her body, like a whip wrapping around her, she did not know what the feeling was exactly, but unconsciously, her grip on the back of Leon's shirt tightened, her pupils dilated, she could barely see anything, all she could see was this bright white light.

She saw Leon pull away, heard him apologies, but he instantly saw something was wrong, Ash couldn't hear his exact words, but she guessed from the tone of his voice. His hand lightly brushed against her skin, and the same feeling came back again, only duller, as if her body was getting used to this, she could finally make out what the feeling was, it was pleasure mingled with pain, it was the thin line in between. Slowly, the feeling dulled, becoming a tangible tingle, only stronger.

She finally hard Leon's voice, which was like music to newborn ears, ears that have heard no sound, she thought it was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard, and at long last, her eyes focused, and she could see Leon's panic stricken face.

"Ash? Are you okay?" he asked worriedly, she smiled slightly and nodded, instantly relief washed over him, he sighed, "I'm really sor-"

"Leon," Ash called, she repeated his name once or twice, "Leon, it's not your fault, it's old Xenotol magic," he had a look of confusion on his face, Ash took hold of his hand as if to reassure him, she smiled brightly, then she pulled herself up a bit, and Leon was intending to get up, but she shook her head, "no, I want you to see something," he remained where he was, "Leon, look at the exact place where you bit me,"

And so Leon complied, brushing away the strands of hair, then lightly brushing his fingers against that area, and right before his eyes what looked like bright red ink spread across her skin, forming the head of what was a dragon, then it slowly vanished under her clothes.

"Do you see something?"

"Y-yeah, what is that?"

"Tell me what you see." Ash asked of him, he complied, "where did it stop?" She gripped at the edge of her shirt and ripped it off of her, "where?"

His finger rested at its head, "the head," then it trailed down, and came to a stop in the middle of her upper arm, "the tail," accidentally, his hand brushed against her side, instantly the same ink appeared, the head of a dragon, then it slowly wrapped around her, crossing her stomach then disappearing beneath her pants, then it suddenly glowed black. Ash stared down at her body, watching the ink go.

He took of his jacket and threw it on Ash's bed, and walked over to her, pulling her up.

"What was that?"

"Xenotol magic," Ash began, "but I don't know its purpose. Anyway, I need to see where it pulled to a stop, because if it stopped some place awkward that may cause a problem, so excuse me."

She walked out, taking a cropped tube top and a pair of shorts. He came back into the room, threw her clothes on her bed and stood in front of him.

"The first one," Ash began placing her finger on her shoulder, "from the base of my neck to the middle of my upper arm," then she moved her hand to the one starting beneath her left breast by inches, right above her rib cage, "second one, starts from here," the figure wrapped around her stomach loosely twice then disappeared beneath her shorts and reappeared near her thigh, then she trailed down to the rim of her shorts, "wraps around here and stops there," pointing to the side of her right thigh, "this is gonna cause some trouble."

"I'm so sorry," Leon muttered, looking down at the ground, Ash walked over to him.

"it's not your fault, you triggered it, sure, but it's not you who put it there," Ash began, "one of my advisors put it on me when I was thirteen, and he didn't tell me what it does, he just told me it's useful."

"You let him put something permanently on your body without knowing what it is?" exclaimed Leon angrily.

"It's not like I had much of a choice!" she replied, then sat him down beside her on the bed. A sudden frown appeared on Ash's face, her free hand reached up to touch the back of her neck.

Instantly, Leon brushed the hair aside and looked there, a small black and red feather appeared right on her neck.

"Another one," he muttered, "a feather."

"Leon tell me the truth, does it look bad?" Ash asked him, the two agreed on the fact that she had to live with them until they figure out how to get it off.

"it doesn't," he began, his fingers tracing the one on the side of her neck, "it actually looks good. Some tattoos look disgusting, but these are simple and pretty."

"Thanks Leon." Ash whispered quietly, the feel of his fingers brush against her skin made the same pain-pleasure feeling come back again, "wait." She opened her hand to reveal her palm, "give me your hand," the only feeling she got was what she felt normally, "here," pointing to the one on her side.

He hesitated.

"It's okay," Ash said smiling, pressing his hand down, and at the touch it was just a simple yet a little powerful tingle. Ash explained to him what it felt like for her, and he was astonished, "I don't believe it either," she pointed to the back of her neck, and before he even touched it, it began tingling like crazy, and on contact it gave a little wave and the feeling could be felt all over her body, Leon pulled his hand away, "a lot more tingly I can tell you that..."

The two conversed for a while, and Ash opted to get dressed, she wore the only outfit she had, a little bit of the tattoo on her upper arm was sowing, so she wrapped it up with a piece of cloth.

"There." Ash said with a smile, "do you have any questions?"

"Are you gonna hide it from the others? Why? And when will this thing go? And why was it me who triggered it?" he asked.

"yes I am, because I don't know how they might react, and I want to get this off before I have to tell them about it," she answered, "I have no idea when, but hopefully soon, and I don't know the answer to that either."

A long silence followed, "Leon don't worry, I won't die because of it, and please don't let it make everything between us awkward and uncomfortable," straight forward as always, Ash told him, he nodded with a light smile, "now let's get down to dinner, and then we'll be roomies again!!"

He chuckled lightly and glanced at the painting. There was so much detail that it seemed so real, and for a moment he felt like he was actually there in the painting amongst the falling feathers.

"c'mon," Ash said, as she opened the door, waiting for Leon to follow her out, and so he did, forgetting his leather jacket on her bed. after dinner, the group managed to get extra beds into Ash's and Aerith's rooms, and as Leon slowly began to fall asleep, his eyes were glued to the painting until sleep iluded him, in his dream, he woke up in a place pitch black, he did not know if up was down or left was right, all he knew was that he was alone, he called out the first name that came to his mind,

"Ash??" he yelled.

no one answered, but as soon as he spoke, little tiny balls of glowing light began to fall from what seemed to be up for him, he opened his palm and let one land in his hand, it was a white feather, and another name poped into his head, "Rinoa..."

"Rinoa?" he called looking around him, he began to walk in no certain direction, he just walked and called out names, either Ash or Rinoa. soon enough, the falling feathers changed direction, as if a light wind was blowing though he felt nothing, in front of him he could see a figure approaching him, female, and as it got closer he realized who she was,

"Rinoa."

could that be considered as a cliffy? hehe. okay so yeah the tattoo part was lame, i had no idea why i put it, if the first person t oreview hated it I'm gonna change that part, okay? deal? :D REVIEW! THANK YOU!! :DDD

Pixie.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter ten:

"Rinoa."

She was finally close enough for him to see her face, just as cute as he remembered; dark brown hair, chocolate brown eyes and a warm smile, she seemed to walk in slow motion, her hair rising and falling on her shoulders in rhythm with her steps, the tail of her duster blowing lightly behind her. She stopped suddenly, raising a finger to point upwards like she always did, then she walked towards him. She took his hand and put it on her side, and took the other one in her hand, and began to dance lightly; left, right, left, twirl. And then she spoke.

"Squall," she began with a small smile, "I know, it's weird of me to pop into one of your dreams, but..." they spun around a little, "you're not going to let yourself go on if I don't make you."

"What?" he questioned. What a bizarre but true assumption.

"You know it's true, Squall!" Rinoa said, giving him the no-nonsense pose like always, they stopped dancing, "you know you're not going to let yourself have fun, you're not going to let yourself move on... fall in love..." Leon's face transformed into a blank sad look, "you're not going to let yourself fall for her."

He looked away from her, he seemed to be rejecting the truth of her words, she placed her hand lightly on his arm, and the other caressed the side of his face.

"Squall, what we had was amazing, yes, but not the actual thing, we were just there for each other at the right moment, there to support each other," she began tilting his face to look at her, "I'm not saying I don't love you, I do, Just not that way." He looked up at her, as if agreeing with her; it was his way of saying that it was something mutual. She gave him a light smile, which he returned; as if accepting it.

"You said her," he began, "who's her?"

"Who else than the hilarious-" Rinoa froze, and gave him a sly smile, "you know what, I'm going let you figure that out."

Then she slowly vanished, disappearing from his sight, from his arms, from that special part of his heart, only to take a place near it but not in it.

Leon sighed, and then began to walk around, calling out the name that kept ringing in his head like a never-fading spark.

"Ash?" he called, he walked and walked, calling out her name, and from the dullness of the place he began to notice things, like how the darkness seemed never ending, and how the light from the feathers seemed to light up a path for him to tread, and how they all seemed so familiar to him.

He noticed that the feathers changed direction, zooming off into a certain place in front of him. His heart skipped a beat in excitement, and he walked faster in the same direction of the feathers.

"Ash?" he called, "Ash?" that name seemed to have its own glow, its own light, like it was special, or like it belonged to someone special, "ASH??"

Finally he saw a bright object up ahead, floating in the air, like a frozen feather. He approached it, walking faster. One moment he was walking fast the other he was planted right in front of said object. It finally seemed detailed. It had a familiar face, pale with jet black hair, and perfect shaped lips, the female seemed to be wearing a white silk dress, floating around her, covering her body and reaching to her toes that were not even visible. And what caught his attention most was the fact that this girl had two large sets of white wings sprouting from her back, though they were not even completely formed, they seemed to be forming from the falling feathers, they gathered and took their places in the wings. This girl had a golden glowing aura around her, her skin lit up, as if shining light of its own, she looked so beautiful, so serene, so familiar, and so magnificent, that he was awe struck, she had this vibe of superiority and power, something to marvel at.

And slowly she opened her eyes, bright emerald green, filled with an odd sort of zest for life, as if knowing the bad and experiencing it, but still having a firm belief in the good, his heart skipped a beat, it was Ash, he could hardly hold back his sudden urge to yell out her name, make her wake up, but no, all it did was make her eyes focus on him.

Ash was comfortably lying in her bed, willing herself to drift off to sleep, but no sleep came. Her thoughts were like a rogue tornado sweeping every chance of rest away from her. Her eyes opened wide, she knew sleep would never come unless she sorted out her thoughts. And predictably enough, they were all centered around one being, one source of all her confusion, doubt and hope, one person. Leon.

She already knew she liked the guy, she had sorted that out before hand, but now the question is whether she has a thing for him or not, she had a hard time answering that question as if something was pushing back the truth, her pride probably, or maybe even her refusal to believe in any emotion related to 'Love' or 'Like', she was perfectly comfortable with thier opposites, 'Hate' and 'Dislike', those were like her companions wherever she went, although she was slightly getting used to 'Like', love was a far way off, a really, really far way off. But she could only admit that there was a chance that she might feel something a bit bigger than 'Like' for the guy, after all he's been all but the best to her.

"Ash..."

With a brief jolt, Ash's eyes widened and she pushed herself up to look back at person who called.

"Ash..."

But the person who called was still fast asleep, he did not know of his calling.

"Ash..."

So much longing in such a simple three lettered word.

"Ash..."

She was beginning to like the name...

"Ash..."

She had the sudden urge to run to him and ask him what he wanted.

"Ash..."

The girl knew that sleep was never to come.

"Ash..."

Suddenly the man went quiet, no more saying her name repeatedly in a way that made her want to go to him. She glanced at him, he simply stopped breathing. Ash was so close to panicking, but then he let out a gasp, or what was close to it. Ash readied herself to go to him, and immediately as he said her name one last time, she towered above his bed, waiting, watching, longing, listening.

"Ash."

Said girl's heart stopped, his tone of voice alone gave so much feeling so much longing, that she felt her heart ready to break, it was as if he was loosing hope and the only thing that could get him back up again was the person with that three lettered name. Ash bit her lip holding back the urge to take hold of his hand, to reassure him she was there. She noticed little tiny beads of sweat forming on his forehead, and he began to shake slightly, and muttering her name angrily and worriedly.

He saw her floating in front of him, he was still staring at her with this growing feeling inside his chest, he felt something there, like a great lion purring loudly, he was glad it was her, he was glad she was safely within his grasp, he was glad. He remained there, only walking forward to stand closer to her. He saw her smile lightly at him, and then they resumed staring at each other happily. Leon noticed that her wings were close to formation, and she seemed to glow even brighter, and his eyes seemed to be glued to her face, seeing nothing but the emerald green of her eyes. Slowly, slowly, her wings formed, but Leon took no notice of that; he was busy.

She reached out a hand for him, smiling warmly to him, as if inviting him to come closer, and he came, but her hand was still outstretched to him, he hadn't seen it; his eyes seemed blinded by the light of her glowing form, captured by the aura of kindness surrounding her. It all felt like one great amazing dream, a dream he did not wish to wake up from.

But he felt something was going wrong.

Her eyes narrowed, though her hand faltered slightly but remained outstretched. In her eyes he could see hurt, pain, fear, worry, and a glint of hope.

And then everything began going wrong.

Ash sat down beside him on his bed, facing him, her hand took hold of his wrapping tightly around it, her free hand reached out and felt his forehead; he had a fever. Ash was now worried, what caused all this? What horrible dream could cause this?

He saw the feathers falling in frenzy. Ash's face was suddenly taken over by fear, her outstretched hand still raised for him to take hold of it.

And then suddenly a loud gun shot.

Blood poured out of her wounds.

She was shot from behind, two times, both in the heart. Blood slowly spread across her body, seeping into her pure white dress, dripping down her toes and falling through the dark abyss, the feathers from her wings slowly breaking into single feathers and dissipating. Fear gripped at him. She slowly fell, he wanted to catch her but she too faded away, smiling to him, for one last time.

"ASH!!" he yelled with his might.

"ASH!!" he yelled, shooting up, gasping for breath as reality slowly took a grip on him, it was a dream. But he saw her die. He saw her bleeding. He saw her fading away, like a candle's flame flickering out. He did not want her to die; he did not want to see her go away. He knew he wouldn't be able to stand it, he couldn't even stand staying away from her for more than six hours, and if that ever happened he'd spend the equivalent of that with her afterwards. He was sure he couldn't handle it, to never hear her voice, hear her laughter, to never see that warm smile, or that mischievous glint, or that wide grin of joy. To never feel her presence beside him, and the warmth that seemed to follow her wherever she went. He'd even miss her little sarcastic comments, and her perverted ones. He never wanted to part with her. He feared it.

He barely noticed a little tear escaping him.

He looked around him, checking for any sign of her, and he saw her sitting next to him, staring at his face in worry. She was alive. Immediately, Leon wrapped his arms around her, relieved that the dream was only a dream, "you're alive..."

Ash was caught off guard, she hadn't seen it coming, and still, she hugged him back, smiling slightly. Then she began whispering, muttering words of comfort to him, but still he did not let go of her, her skin tingled as his breath brushed against the side of her neck, where her tattoo was.

"I..." he began, his voice breaking slightly, "I saw you die... I saw you vanish... forever. Never to come back again... and I couldn't do anything about it..."

Ash smiled at the fact that he was worried, and that he feared her death, she held him close with a light sigh.

"Leon," she began, "oh, Leon..." a little lost for words, "Leon, I'm not going anywhere..."

His grip tightened on her.

"shhh..." she felt her shirt getting wet near his face, "Leon..." she sighed softly, rocking back and forward, "Leon, don't worry..." rubbing his back, she gave him a little kiss on his shoulder, "look, I'm right here, I'm not dead," his grip tightened, if that 

was ever possible, "if I was ever close to death, it would've been the day you rescued me from Xenotol," Aerith told her it was he who found her, "and I'm sure, that if that ever happened again..."

"Ash..." the same longing in his voice, Ash felt something stuck in her throat and she almost lost track of her thoughts.

"I'm sure... that you'd be there, to stop it from happening..." Ash muttered with a smile, that she was definitely sure of. He quieted a little, and his grip on her still tight, "Leon..." she rubbed his arm, and pulled away.

"I will." Leon said, it was not a question; it was a firm repetition of what she said as if to make sure of it, to accept it, to confirm it. Ash smiled warmly at him, and then he smiled back with what warmth he had, the warmth she gave him. And it was his turn to be embraced, she was so happy, she giggled lightly, and lifted her head up, planting a small kiss on his jaw line, then lowered her head to rest on his shoulder. He placed a hand on her back while the other took a firm hold on her upper arm, then he lay back pulling her with him, he threw the covers over her as she lay beside him on the bed.

He wanted to make sure that he spent whatever amount of time with her. After a surprised gasp, Ash laid her head on his bare chest, and couldn't help but give him a small smile.

"you're so warm..." he said, and the two fell asleep again, and unfortunately for Leon he had the same dream again, only this time it ended before he reached Ash. But one thing Rinoa said kept ringing in his ears.

"start taking chances, Squall, even if the consequences might be bad, but there is a chance they might be good!" she had said, ""what I mean is, don't take everything as a battle plan, doubting everything that might come out good, just do things because you want to."

That morning, they made a decision to have a little meeting after Leon and Ash returned the princesses to their home worlds. By the time the princesses woke up, Leon and Ash parted from the group to drop the princesses off. The journey was rather uneventful, except for the fact that Ash was close to killing every princess –minus Kairi- because of their 'snobbish and overly-feminine attitude' as Ash said, only to whisper to Kairi that they were 'being too nice to _her_ Leon'.

Once they neared Destiny Islands, the two girls had an almost tearful farewell.

"Am I really not gonna see you again?" Kairi asked sadly.

"As if! You haven't seen Leon laughing yet, so you betcha you'll be seeing me soon!" Ash said, grinning.

"I hope so!" Kairi said sadly, Ash ruffled up her hair and gave a grin while Kairi giggled.

"Make sure that Sora drags you back to Hollow Bastion once he gets back!" Ash ordered Kairi with a grin; the girl nodded with a giggle, gave Ash a hug and ran out of the ship. Ash walked back to the cockpit, feeling a little bit miserable, it wasn't for Kairi's leave; it was because of something Kairi had said.

"I feel like I'm betraying Riku and Sora..." she had said.

"Why? Oh-ho ma gawd, did you make out with another guy?" Ash had questioned her new friend jokingly.

"No, you pervert!" Kairi had snapped, "it's because I'm going back home without them..."

Ash now felt like she was betraying her old friends for reaching her home world, for living happily with a new bunch of friends, for not even looking for them. Her heart felt heavy with guilt, as she sat down in the co-pilot's seat next to Leon, who glanced at Ash's saddened look. He chose not to question her until later.

Oddly enough the whole ride back, Ash said nothing, laughed at nothing, and joked about nothing, she just sat there thinking, contemplating.

As the group gathered for their meeting, waiting for Cid to arrive, who had called saying he had a surprise for the group, mainly Aerith. And so the group waited and waited in the quiet library. Aerith had picked up a book a while later, and Leon was given a book entitled "the Legendary Beast" from Ash, while Yuffie and Ash proceeded to jump from one area to another. In the end, when they heard the far away sound of a ship landing, Leon stood leaning on a wall, while Yuffie and Aerith stood before him, Ash on the other hand was lounging on the railings of the upper floor, resting her back on the railings, one leg propped up with the other lolled about in the air. Leon couldn't help but glance up at her with a soft smile.

A moment later, they heard footsteps approaching. Ash's solemn figure jumped from the railings to the flat top of a nearby bookshelf, then she jumped down to stand next to Leon, who was about to turn to her when the door burst open...

"LOOK WHO I FOUND!!" Cid yelled as he walked in. Behind him walked a spiky haired blond, wearing an odd choice of clothes, Ash could make out a scarf, a shoulder guard, and what looked like a waist guard. Bright blue eyes and blond hair, Ash immediately knew him to be Cloud.

Cloud looked at the group shyly, he didn't know whether they would accept him or not, apparently they did for Leon nodded to him with a soft hidden smile, Aerith gave him a warm smile, while Yuffie grinned and said,

"Welcome back, spiky!"

He took his place among the circle, but he was still a little ways off, for he was beckoned by Cid pushing him forward and Aerith holding out her hand for him. Ash on the other hand, glanced at Leon then at Cloud, and then she felt the heavy weight on her chest increase; Leon and Cloud looked so much like Blaze, they had so many features that were like his, and Ash saw her eyes turning slightly hazy, which Leon noticed, but she quickly calmed herself down and chose to introduce herself to Cloud.

Ash walked over to Cloud proudly.

"Hey," she gave him a smile, "I'm Ash."

Beforehand, in Cid's Shera, Cloud stood next to the man in what could be called the cockpit.

"There's a new addition to our group," Cid began proudly. Cloud simply turned his head slightly to survey Cid as if showing him he was listening, "her name's Ash, and she's from Hollow Bastion too," Cloud nodded, "everyone likes her, she's all buddy buddy with Aerith n' Yuffie, and Leon… those two've become inseparable, I think he's gotten attached!" Cid said with a grin, "she's got charm, she's hilariously perverted, smart n' kind," Cid continued then yelled happily, "and A grrreat pilot!!"

If Leon actually liked her, then she must be one fantastic person, either that or she's a powerful sorceress, Leon rarely warmed up to anyone, but apparently he had to this Ash girl.

"Ash?" Cloud questioned, so this was her; jet black her and emerald eyes, what's so special? "Cloud Strife."

"Yeah, I know who you are," she said with smile, "Aerith talks a lot about you," Aerith seemed to have gotten slightly tense, Ash noticed her blush and giggled lightly, then turned to Cloud and continued, "look, what I'm about to do is gonna qualify as strange and awkward to you, but I gotta do it, I have heard so much about you it's like I know you, so it's hard to resist it."

Cloud raised a single blond eyebrow, and glanced at Leon past the strange girl, the young man nodded to him. Cloud look at Ash in a confused sort of way, and in seconds Cloud was held tightly in Ash's vice like grip, it slowly loosened and loosened, and she pulled away.

"Sorry, I just had to," she said grinning; she turned around taking hold of his hand and pulling him closer to the group. Then she let go of him and took her position next to Leon, who was half glaring half smiling, Yuffie was all giggles and Aerith was smiling warmly, "aw, there's no need to get jealous, Leon."

""How can I not?" he muttered jokingly, Ash laughed then instantly quieted; thoughts of Blaze and the others returning to her. Leon noticed this again, he wondered if he should ask about this now, he glanced at his friends, both Yuffie and Aerith were busy with Cloud, and Cid was watching them; all busy. Leon turned to Ash and quietly whispered to her, "What's wrong?"

"…" she looked up at him, astonished that he noticed, so perceptive of him, "nothing…."

"We'll talk later. And you know I don't believe that." Leon said sternly then turned to the others, he coughed slightly, gaining their attention, "welcome back Cloud," he said with a nod, " I-"

"Wait wait," Yuffie said urgently, then cleared her throat, "first Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee Meeting is in session!"

"uh… thanks, Yuffie," Leon said giving her an odd look, "restoring Hollow bastion to its former glory will take a lot of work, but if we do our best we'll make it, and to do this we need to call on Merlin, he said he would look for a spell to help us when we called him last time, also…"

Leon began giving orders, he grouped them into pairs, leaving Aerith with Cloud (Ash begged him to do it, and because Cloud was strong enough to make sure nothing happened to Aerith), and Cid with Yuffie, even though the two bickered they worked together greatly. Ash was left alone with Leon, who immediately turned to her.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"N-nothing…"

"What's wrong?" he repeated, stepping forward.

"Leon, It's noth-" Ash began, taking a few steps back.

"Quit saying that! I'm not gonna stop asking you until you tell me the truth! What's wrong?" he repeated. He walked closer to her and she stepped back, her back hit the bookshelf suddenly, making several books fall, "why are you so unhappy?" he said, he was inches away from her, his arms resting on either side of her head.

"Leon…" Ash began, she wanted to tell him to back away, but she couldn't. Tears began to fall from her eyes; she threw herself into his arms, crying.

"… Ash…" Leon muttered, he himself sad, for some reason he couldn't stand seeing her like that. She sobbed so hard he could feel her shaking against him, and then she quieted.

"I feel like I'm betraying them –Blaze and the others…" she muttered sadly, her voice was muffled at the beginning but then she moved her head slightly and it became clear.

Leon's expression darkened, was that the reason behind her sadness? That she was home while they were not? That they were probably somewhere out there searching for her and for home? Leon bit his bottom lip frowning; did she want to leave them -more importantly him- to find the others?

"Do you wish to leave? To find them?" he muttered sadly, his grip on her tightened as she began sobbing again.

"I don't want to leave… but I have to find them…"she answered. Her heart broke at the thought of leaving, and she did not know what would happen to her if she left them, if she left Leon. After a while of heart wrenching sobbing, Ash tightened her hold on Leon, she was sure she felt something more than 'Like' for the guy, if she simply liked him she wouldn't be crying so hard, she forced her pride to eat itself and made her decision, she definitely loved him, "I don't want to leave you…"

Leon's eyes widened in shock, but they soon softened a bittersweet feeling filling him, he tightened his embrace, softly stroking her hair.

"I don't want that either…" he murmured in her ear, his breath playing against her tattooed skin.

At once, the same electric thin line between pain and pleasure shot through her, she felt the tattoo wrapping around her torso tighten slightly then it let go, an immense heat came from where it was, and suddenly a bright light came from between them. The earth shook and rumbled and the dragon unlocked, it wound its way around her and detached itself from her, only to spin around the two of them. Ash closed her eyes and so did Leon, the dragon kept spinning around them and then it rose up and vanished in a silent explosion of light.

Ash and Leon stood in each other's arms, fitting against each other perfectly, and both having a soft look on their faces. Ash was happy. She did not know why, she just was.

"A-Ash? Leon? W-what was that?" Aerith questioned her voice panicky. Ash and Leon slowly let go of each other but still stood close together.

"I should tell them now, huh?" Ash whispered to Leon who nodded to her. She took his hand and dragged him with her towards the other two.

"You should get the others," Ash said simply.

"when I lived on Hollow Bastion I was one of the Fighters, the ones that protected the world in the air, we had a mother ship called Coraya, and one day, we were out killing Heartless… but we were too late, too weak… we got a transmission from Coraya, telling us the world was eclipsed and that we must return to the ship.

"Before you even join the Fighters, you are told to be prepared to lose everything, to never form bonds so that you wouldn't get hurt. No one ever listened to that…. I found five very trustworthy friends, Blaze, nicknamed Alpha, Sierra, nicknamed Ace, Zack, nicknamed Brawn, Alice, nicknamed Dancer, and Charlie, nicknamed Dragon. The three of us formed a team, with Sierra in the lead; after all she was the best at everything. We were attacked a lot in Coraya, we lost hundreds of fighter ships, and we were defenseless against the Heartless…

"So one day, we lost all hope and landed on a world called Xenotol, we found out that the leaders were of the worst sort, so my team and I invaded, we killed and threatened until there were no leaders. We told the public to choose their own leader… somehow I got that title, I was young and my arrogance and pride got in the way, so I became Princess Ash, ruler of Xenotol.

"A few years later when I was seventeen or eighteen, one of my advisors told me to marry so that I can become Queen, and Blaze suggested himself, he was my best friend and I couldn't say no, I had no choice but to accept. Another one of my advisors put a spell on me, he didn't tell me what exactly it would do, all he said was that it would come in handy when I 'want to make the real choice'. Yeah, odd, I know…

Soon afterwards the world got taken over by Heartless. My team and I chose to stay and fight, unfortunately that was a mistake that cost our lives, and one by one... we fell, until I was last. By luck…. Leon found me…

"One day, among the ones I spent with you," she began, choosing to skip the part about Leon biting her, and then that small peck that mystified her. In front of her stood Cid, Cloud, Yuffie and Aerith stock still, while Leon stood comfortably beside her, as if it was his place there, "while I was with Leon, something… odd happened…" she took hold of the rim of her shirt, and pulled it up, throwing aside the shirt, then she took hold of her hair and held it to the side, she stood with her back to the group (minus Leon who now stood in front her), looking over her shoulder slightly, "this is what happened…"

No response came. Yuffie was awe struck, Aerith's hand was covering her mouth, Cid's straw fell from his mouth and Cloud simply stared with clenched fists.

"I think I have a faint idea of what triggered it…" Ash began, glancing fondly at Leon, "but I have no idea how to make it go away…"

Silence followed.

Aerith's hand dropped to her side and took a step forward smiling to Ash, Yuffie ran forward to inspect the tattoos, Cid picked up his straw and walked over to her shaking his head with a smile, Cloud unclenched his fists, closed his eyes and walked away.

"Wow, this one looks amazing!" Yuffie said reaching out to touch the feather on the back of her neck.

"No! Don't!" yelled Ash and Leon in unison, but they were too late, Yuffie had made contact with it, oddly enough, Ash felt nothing, no tingle, no pain or pleasure. She glanced at Leon, biting her bottom lip.

A while later, Aerith suggested asking Merlin to help with the spell, but Ash refused saying 'it'll go on its own', and Leon agreed to that. While they were walking back to the ship, the air felt thick around Ash and Leon, and it was slightly awkward between them, but before Ash could say anything to break the ice, a loud howl could be heard.

Ash froze, another howl and she was off in a run.

She reached the cliff surveying Malificent's castle, and there stood two wolves, the female was pure white and blue eyed, while the male was black, white and grey with yellow eyes, Ash approached them and so did they.

"Fenrir," Ash muttered softly to the male as she scratched its head, and then turned to the other, letting Fenrir walk around her, "Ira..." the white one's eyes sparkled, leaning forward to lick Ash's ears.

"_Ash, we missed you,_" said the whitE one, Ira, nuzzling Ash's hand. Licking the person's ears makes them able to hear the wolves.

"So did I..."

"_Why didn't you look for us as soon as you came?_" asked Fenrir, stopping to rub its head against Ash.

"I didn't know you were here..." Ash said sadly, sitting down between them, Fenrir laid his head in her lap while Ira cuddled up next to her.

"_Ash, where are your friends?_" questioned Fenrir.

"Back by the Ragnarok!" Ash said happily, then her smile was wiped off of her face, she was supposed to give him a report about Blaze and the others, but...

"_You smell like a Lion..._" Fenrir said angrily, scrunching up his snout.

"_Peace, my Love,_" said Ira, opening one eye, "_there is no need to go killing him..._"

"_He approaches..._" Fenrir said, lifting himself up, his fur rose, standing in an attack pose, growling fiercely.

"Who?" Ash questioned in confusion.

"_The Lion who will steal your Heart..._" Fenrir replied angrily, snapping and growling.

Ash saw in her mind's eye a pendant shaped like a lion, then she heard footsteps approaching.

"Ash!" yelled Leon's familiar voice. Her head whipped around, Fenrir getting fiercer and fiercer by the second, he seemed ready to attack.

"RUN!" Ash yelled to Leon, holding Fenrir down who was howling, growling and barking angrily, "RUN, LEON RUN!!"

Ash was having a hard time holding the wolf down. Leon immediately began to run in the other direction, the growling growing louder and louder.

"_I WILL NEVER GIVE HER UP!!_" Fenrir yelled viciously. Ash nodded to Ira to go help Leon, she knew Ira was not like Fenrir. Fenrir had the habit of being overly protective of her, he got angry when she first befriended Blaze and the others, he got angry whenever she was injured, it was scary.

"Fenrir, please calm down... please..." Ash begged, she knew that if Fenrir went loose Leon would never be able to breathe without wincing for the rest of his life, "please, Fenrir..."

Still the wolf howled angrily, he would never give Ash up to a Lion... unless he already got her.

"_do you..._" he began but he couldn't bring himself to say it, he didn't want to know, he growled once more, Ash begged him not to attack Leon, and so he calmed down, for the sake of Ash, the urgency in her voice, her worry and fear was unlike the time she befriended Blaze, this time it was much much more, "_go to him..._"

"You won't attack?" Ash questioned in astonishment, and she smiled happily when the wolf nodded, not noticing its sorrow. And as Ash rushed off to be with Leon, the wolf howled at the moon angrily, "_her Heart is with the Lion..._"

What was with that wolf? Why did he flare up at the sight of Leon? Why was he so keen on keeping Leon away from Ash? Why? Leon questioned as he ran crossing the deep depths in no time, soon enough he heard the quick footsteps of a wolf, and he turned around; sensing it meant him no harm. He saw the white wolf, elegant and 

graceful, bounding its way to him, she barked to him, and he pulled to a stop, lowering himself to be on the same level as her.

"I don't understand..." Leon muttered to himself. His hand reached out to her, watching her eyes as they softened, she nuzzled his hand and leaned forward, she licked his ears. Leon was amazed and disgusted at the same time, the sides of his face covered up in dog slobber, but something in his brain clicked and he began to hear words coming from the white wolf.

"_Forgive him, he's just... overprotective when it comes to Ash's Heart..._" she said in a wolfish silky voice. Leon was utterly astonished, but quickly he snapped out of it and concentrated, he gave her a confused look, "_you could say he's like Ash's bigger brother, overprotective, caring, and strong...while I am like Ash's mother or sister, understanding, caring, and soft._"

"Why did he want to attack me?" Leon questioned.

"_you see, we are a different kind of wolves, we speak, we understand, we feel, we think, and we live,_" Ira continued, "_as much as we are like humans, we are still unlike them in many ways, besides being animals, we have certain extra abilities, like sensing emotions, seeing the unseen, knowing one's hopes and dreams, fears and everything... it's not like we want to, it just comes with being who we are..._"

"..." he nodded, silently waiting for her to reach the part where it comes to him.

"_and so, Fenrir knew what you dream... what you fear... he knew how you felt about her, he knew how you want her to feel about you, and he knew how she actually felt about you..._" she answered, closing her eyes slightly, then opening them to stare at him knowingly, as if she just saw what she was talking about, "_that's why he was so angry..._"

"..." he couldn't say anything, he felt like an open book; they knew everything about him, things no one should know, things he would never admit, he hated it, but he knew he could do nothing about it. He wondered if Ash knew about this and how he felt.

"_she does, but she doesn't know how you feel about her, all Fenrir said was 'the Lion who will steal her Heart approaches', she will get suspicious, and she will be slightly awkward around you, but all you have to do is take a chance, Lion..._" the white wolf said, giving him a wolfish smile, "_I must leave you, Lion, he will be angrier if I get back smelling like you... your Love is coming..._"

She bounded away from him, giving him a bark like laugh. Leon stood up, thinking about all of this, he noticed that what the wolf said before last, reminded him of what Rinoa told him, something about taking chances. In an instant he made up his mind, he hoped it won't ruin anything, he hoped Ash wouldn't refuse him- he stopped in mid thought, that was exactly what Rinoa meant about doubting what might come out good. He looked out at the horizon in determination, he will do it.

He heard footsteps approaching, and he looked in its direction, definitely not a wolf, but a human, a human he loved.

Ash ran as fast as she could, hoping that Fenrir didn't lie to her only to take short cut and reach Leon before her. She hoped he was safe. She found him in the end, standing there, staring somewhere, his head shifted to look at her. and at that instant, 

Ash had an epiphany, the Lion Fenrir spoke of was standing before her, his hair blowing from the wind like the mane of a lion, he had a look on his face as if determined, standing tall like a warrior. His eyes sparkled, and he gave her a smile. Ash ran to him, happy that he was safe and simply because he was there.

"Leon..." Ash said, smiling to him as she approached, "are you okay...?"

"I'm great," he said, he turned to stand next to her, slipping his hand in hers, hoping with all his heart that she wouldn't refuse him, "better than ever..."

Ash was tongue tied, her brain clouded, her mouth automatically grinning; it was her substitute for blushing. She didn't know how to react, so she simply wrapped her thin fingers around his hand. He smiled to her, in what seemed to be relief.

"let's go..." he said, he had this happy tone to his voice.

* * *

okay so I think we all get the fact that the two have a thing for each other, right? I mean, really! arent they gonna hurry up and get together? anyway... Fenrir is a bit freaky dont you think? sure he's a wolf (awesome) but he's overprotective (sucks) yeah, so... mixed feelings? mmhmm... anyway, I hate Rinoa, she's seriously creepy in this chapter... anyway, the next chapter is kinda funny, just so you all know, I HATE pink... it's so gross... (gags)... along with Rinoa... man i wanna kill her so bad... back to the point, I HaTe pink, and apparently, so does Leon! because of what I'm about to do to him!! and there will be perverted picking on Cloud in the next chapter, which is, by the way, already finished, just give me three to five reviews and I will love you forever and ever... the end...

pressy button!!

ever yours,

Pixie

P.S: I hate the word 'their', its so confusing! is it 'thier' or 'their'?

P.P.S: I had to read Lemony Snicket to understand the difference between 'its' and 'it's', i mean, wow! and even if i know... i still dont get it...

now review and I will give you a human sized card board cut out of Leon!! (drools)... so hott!


	11. Chapter 11

hello people! thanks for everyone who reviewed, and for those who added me! :D glad you like this! anyway, the first part is funny, then it switches to mushy and some more mushiness, a little bit of light teasing, Leon worries like hell, and... Ira and Fenrir are here too, also... I really, REALLY dont like this chapter, i feel like their mushy miments are always the same!! :( that's my opinion! :D hope you like it, people!! :D

let the pervertedness begin!!

**Chapter eleven:**

That night, Leon dreamt the same dream, skipping Rinoa and getting to Ash, he reached the part where she got shot, but once she held out her hand, he grasped it tightly, and then he felt himself float in the air, and then Ash spread her wings wide, and flew up, carrying them away from the darkness; ripping through it and into the light.

Ash leaned forward towards him, as if intending to kiss him, but right when her lips met his he woke up, Ash sitting right there, one eyebrow raised, looking uneasy and tense, confused and confounded.

"Same dream?" Ash asked him.

"Yes, but you didn't die... I didn't let it happen," he said happily. Ash grinned to him and gave him a hug.

"c'mon, it's morning," Ash said, pulling him up, then she grinned big "pancakes?"

They ran down the stairs of Merlin's newly renovated house, downstairs there was a kitchen, a tea table, a bookshelf, a living room, and a huge computer for Cid. Upstairs there were four rooms, one for Cloud, one for Merlin, one for Yuffie and Aerith and one for Leon and Ash; Ash's room was next to Cloud's, which faced Aerith's, and in front of Ash's was Merlin's.

The two set about making pancakes, managing to get everything covered in flour, cream and maple syrup, the cause? A food fight; Leon's hair was sticky with maple syrup, Ash was covering in flour from head to toe, and the two were splattered with cream.

Ash reached forward, covering her finger with cream from Leon's upper arm, and then she stuck it in her mouth.

"I love cream..." Ash said happily, Leon shook his head as he laughed at her. Then the two resumed making what was left of their pancakes.

"How are we supposed to clean this up?" Ash asked; as she stared at the chaos they created.

"I've got an idea," Leon muttered, a mischievous glint in his eyes. They ran upstairs, ad stood in front of Merlin's room.

"Steal Merlin's underwear?" Ash whispered in confusion.

"No," Leon said, shaking his head. Like always, Merlin had a fire sign on his door, meaning they needed to use fire magic, which they obviously couldn't do because they might wake up the others. Leon remember that Ash was practically fire incarnate, so he took her hand (a low giggle from Ash) and placed it on the door, instantly they heard the lock click and the door swung open, revealing what Ash would call 'Fairy Land', purple, blue, violet and crimson, clouds, stars, moons and suns, fairies, Pixies and elves, It was brilliant. But Ash was too busy laughing at Merlin's choice of pajamas; light pink with clouds, rainbows and smiling suns, and it was a mix between a pull-over and a robe, Ash stifled a laugh and nudged Leon, who spun around, as soon as he caught sight of Merlin's Pajamas his eyes widened and he bit his bottom lip, holding back a laugh.

The two quickly closed the door and ran down the stairs to the kitchen, laughing and chuckling lightly.

"How exactly are you gonna do this?" Ash asked him, he went quiet, contemplating, he shrugged his shoulders and ready himself, Ash stood in a ready stance and immediately, when Leon flicked his wrist, a bright shower of blue and red erupted, Ash let out a little squeal and jumped head first behind a coach, Ash peeked around the coach and asked Leon, "what happened?"

"It worked!!" he said happily, fingering the wand in his hand. Ash stood up and glanced at Leon, bursting into a fit of laughter instantly, "what is it?"

"Your-" she began but continued laughing, "oh my gawd, your- hahahahahahaha- hair it's- hahahahahahahahaha- PINK!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!"

"Pink?" Leon said, raising his eyebrows, and then a strand of his hair fell in front of his face, his jaw immediately dropped, his face turned red, "my HAIR!!"

Ash ad tears coming out of her eyes, and she was having a hard time breathing, and still she laughed.

"ow- hahahahhahahaa- my guts!!" Ash continued to laugh hysterically.

"MY HAIR!! IT'S FUCKIN' PINK!!" Leon yelled angrily, gripping at his hair almost pulling it out of its roots.

"Leon-hahahahaha- calm down!" Ash said, trying to quiet down her laugh, and it worked, turning it into a giggle. She walked towards Leon who was still trying to pull his hair out of its place, "Leon calm down!" Ash said, placing a hand on his arm, he slowly let go.

"But my hair..." Leon said sadly, Ash patted him on the back, and picked up the fallen wand.

"I'll try to fix it up for ya," Ash said, pointing the wand at Leon, a bright white and red flash later, the wand had back fired. Leon gasped, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped, "what? what is it?" furrowing her eyebrows and looking up, she saw that her hair switched from jet black to startling silver, her jaw dropped, "this is... AWESOME!!"

Leon did the old hand to face move, and sighed at her.

"You're hopeless..." he said, shaking his head.

"Oh c'mon! Admit it! I look hott!!" Ash said happily, bouncing up to him. Leon squirmed slightly, he didn't know what to say, "but you... you-ahahahahahaha- look like a... GIRL!!"

"You sure know how to cheer a guy up..." he said darkly.

"Sorry, love," she said, at which Leon raised a thin pink eyebrow, _love?_ Ash merrily pulled him towards the pancakes, "eat a pancake!"

As soon as the others woke up, Yuffie, Cid and Aerith laughed hysterically at the two, though more so at Leon, whose pink hair was eye catching. As soon as the giggle-filled breakfast finished, Merlin returned their hair to normal color (a few protests from Ash could be heard). Then Aerith gave Cloud his old clothes, for some reason she had kept them safely hidden and well attended to, and Cloud proudly wore them. Seeing as it was still afternoon, they still had time, so the group began their work. They divided into pairs, only this time Ash went with Cloud.

"I want Cloudy!!" Ash said happily, jumping from her position next to Leon to stand next to Cloud, clinging to his arm lightly, "now, don't get jealous Aerith..."

"Ash!" Aerith exclaimed, Ash laughed and got herself a hit on the upper arm.

"Ouch! You know, for a girly-girl, you sure are strong," Ash muttered darkly.

"Wait 'til she punches you," Cloud muttered.

"Now that is scary..." Ash said, shaking her head. Aerith giggled lightly, moving to stand next to Leon, who was looking oddly at Ash, as if he thought something was wrong, "sorry, Leon, but I need to make like a baby and go all buddy-buddy with Cloudy."

Leon nodded silently, his frown never vanishing, he walked away from the group, and Aerith followed.

"What's wrong Leon?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said sighing.

"You know she is actually trying to befriend him, she's not trying to get away from you or anything," Aerith told him, "if she ever did that, then something must be wrong with the universe, because you two are like... vanilla and chocolate, Black and White, Light and Dark, things that cannot be on their own, you can't be separated."

Leon chuckled lightly, though his frown softened it was still there, he felt like Ash was trying to get away from him because he was making a move, because he was actually trying, and that he did not like at all.

* * *

"So, Couldy McCloud Cloud," she began, as they walked around the wreckage, Cloud gave her a stern look at his new nickname.

"Stop calling me that," Cloud muttered.

"Sorry, but no way hozay!" Ash said with a grin, "it's either that or Cloudy-pants of the McCloud Clan, or even Cloudy McCloudy-pants of the McCloud Cloud Clan."

He sighed exasperatedly.

"If you want you could give me a stupid nickname too," Ash said happily.

"What? Ashy McAsh-Ash?" Cloud said in a mocking tone, "no way."

"Oh C'mon, give your creativity a chance!" Ash said, Cloud glared at her, "fine, I'll stop nagging..."

"Thank-" Cloud began, but his hopes were smashed to pieces as Ash turned the subject into a more sensitive and embarrassing one.

"So you have the hotts for Aerith?"

Damn her! Why wouldn't she just keep away from him and leave him alone?

"I mean, with your depressed I-know-I'm-hott hero attitude and her beautiful damsel in distress attitude things would work out fine!" she said, and then suddenly she switched her voice into a high pitched fake feminine one, "that is sooooo cute! I can, like, totally imagine you two together! So, when are you gonna make, like, a move?"

"Like, never..." Cloud mocked.

"Like, why?" Ash asked, she couldn't resist laughing, "Like you two are so cute together! I mean, you're, like, perfect for her! OMG! I'm gonna, like, hook up, okay?"

"..." he stayed silent as he rolled his eyes, a small smile appearing on his lips.

"Like, I've got a perfect idea! We could, like, make you guys a dinner, with all the candles and roses," Ash gave and excited squeal, "OMG! Like this is gonna be great!!"

"You're crazy," Cloud muttered shaking his head.

"I'm gonna change this," then suddenly she changed it into a gangster speech, "yo, wassup, dog?"

Cloud stared at her incredulously, "what is wrong with you?"

"nothin', man. How's work goin', man?" Ash asked, faltering slightly, her abilities lacking, "ummm... man?"

"You suck at this..." he said shaking his head.

"I know," she said sadly. Then she stood in front of one of those wrecked houses, muttering a quick spell and concentrating on the little bricks, slowly they took shape to form a house and the windows, the door that fell off its hinges and broke a long time ago was fixed and positioned correctly, "man, this is gonna take a while..."

They walked on, fixing up a few houses on the way.

"Cloudy? What did you do while you were away from the group?" Ash asked him seriously.

"I stayed in another world called Olympus Coliseum." He stated simply. He knew that she would probably get bored if he told her all the details.

"What did you do there?" Ash asked him.

"Worked for a guy named Hades, who turned out to be evil." He answered.

"Why'd you work for him?" Ash asked again.

"Because he told me he would help me find what I was looking for."

"Which is?" Ash asked.

Man, the girl asked a lot of questions!!

"My Light." He answered simply, slightly getting irritated.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked, getting more and more interested by the second.

"Each person has their own Light to keep away the darkness; usually it's a person they love." He answered, his irritation increased.

"And yours is... Aerith?" Ash asked him, tilting her head slightly.

"Apparently not," he said sadly, he continued walking, though he looked away from her.

Ash understood, he still hadn't found what he was looking for. She chose to change the subject.

"Awesome sword by the way!" Ash said enthusiastically, "can I have one? Please, please?? Huh, huh? Can I? Please?"

He shook his head, lightly chuckling.

"Aw, man... can I at least hold it? Please!!" she begged.

"Fine..." he said chuckling lightly, he pulled it out with ease, and he heard Ash gasp in shock.

"Oh ma gawd! You're so strong!!" Ash said happily, he handed her the sword and she grabbed it, but he didn't let go.

"Ready?" he said, she nodded in joy and he let go, instantly her hand wobbled and she toppled over in her attempt to hold it up.

"Awesome!!" she said happily, laughing hysterically. For Cloud, who mainly took everything seriously, it was odd to see a person laugh at themselves for falling and being incapable of holding up what others could, and still the girl laughed, she also proved him wrong when she asked him for all the details when he thought she wouldn't be interested. She snapped him out of his brief reverie, grinning to him, "You like wolves?" she asked, pointing to the wolf pin on his chest.

"Yes," he answered quietly, he picked up his sword and helped her up.

"Thanks," she said and continued on with her subject, "so do I... do ya wanna meet some?"

"What?" he asked, giving her a look of confusion.

"c'mon." She dragged him off by the arm. They stopped when they reached the depths, they could hear howling, and then suddenly they heard the pitter patter of far away footsteps. She turned to him grinning, "The white one is Ira, and the other one is Fenrir."

"Fenrir?" Cloud wondered, he remembered that his old bike was called Fenrir, then he wondered where that old thing was.

"Here they come," Ash said happily. Looking off in some direction, and a few seconds later, two wolves jumped off of a cliff, and Cloud couldn't help but stare at how they fondly danced around Ash. Once they noticed him, the white one, Ira, approached him; he didn't even hesitate to get down on his knees. She walked around him, and then stood off to the side next to Ash. Next, Fenrir approached him, the great wolf laid its head on Cloud's shoulder, "He likes you."

"I remember Aerith telling me that they attacked L-" he began, but Ash instantly cut him short, shh-ing him.

"Don't mention him in front of Fenrir, please." She said calmly, turning around to walk towards 'the Cliff of Awesomeness' as she called it, "I'll explain later."

On the way, Fenrir licked Cloud's ears, making him capable of hearing their wolfish voice spell out words and letters.

"You see, Fenrir, is overprotective," Ash explained, a brief growl from Fenrir sounded, "that's why he really disliked... him, he kept saying 'The Lion who will steal my Heart'... I don't get it, but..." she shrugged, and grinned at Cloud, "I'll figure it out soon enough..."

"..." Cloud chose to stay silent, even though Ash was looking at him expectantly.

"Dude, can ya give me a hand with it? I mean, it's like a damn riddle!!" she exclaimed, sitting down on the edge of the cliff, and Cloud soon followed, thinking of said riddle.

"'the Lion'... I doubt an actual Lion would steal your Heart, he probably meant a person," Cloud said thoughtfully.

"Or maybe a Heartless that looks like a Lion!!" Ash said jokingly, Cloud rolled his eyes at her, smiling lightly.

"Do you know a person who is like a lion?" Cloud asked her, hinting to her, he wondered if it actually was him, it probably was.

"I saw one," Ash said smirking, "technically he's not a Lion, he just sorta acts like one, and kinda looks like one too, oh and he has a thing for lions, also his name kinda sounds like 'Lion', only with an E instead of an I."

"So we've figured out who this 'Lion' is," Cloud said, contemplating, "only Heartless steal Hearts, but he is definitely not a Heartless."

"Yeah, he hates them with a passion..." Ash said, smiling lightly.

"Unless by Heart he means it like you're Light, but people don't actually steal other people's Light, they make them their light," Cloud said, he was frowning in concentration, "or maybe, by Heart he means Love... as in-"

"I would give him my Heart because I love him?" Ash questioned, as A look of pure confusion appeared on her face. The two went silent, pondering what they just thought of.

Do you? That's all Cloud wanted to ask, but he couldn't he knew she wouldn't be able to answer, and then trouble would come, and everything would go wrong. Choosing not to ask he stayed silent.

"Wow, comfortable silence..." Ash said, chuckling lightly, "I just want to ask you one question though..."

"What?" Cloud asked, playing with Fenrir's fur.

"Do you love her? Aerith?" she asked him, he froze momentarily then continued.

"I don't think so, she's like a sister to me, or like a close friend..." Cloud said, and then he averted his eyes to watch Ira, who was licking Ash's fingers, "nothing more,"

"Like Blaze and I," Ash said with an understanding smile, "oh yeah, I hope you didn't think I was crazy when I hugged you..."

"At that time, I labeled you as 'crazy and dangerous, must keep away' but now I think I got used to you." Cloud answered, he could hear a deep rumble in Fenrir's chest.

"So you don't think I'm a lunatic?" Ash asked, grinning big when Cloud nodded, "Yay!"

And then she hugged him again, as per usual with all guys she had met; he patted her on the back awkwardly. She couldn't resist laughing at him. Suddenly, Fenrir began growling viciously, instantly, Ash jumped up and looked around to see Leon standing on the cliff above theirs.

"Hold Fenrir down, Cloud," Ash muttered angrily. Cloud did as he was told, though he struggled slightly, but Fenrir didn't break away, "Leon!" Ash yelled happily, but the man turned his back on her and walked away, "Leon?"

"_He's angry... no, jealous..._" Ira said in her wolfish voice, "_do not approach him for a while..._"

"What? Why?" Ash asked, slightly panicking.

"_I think it's because of him,_" Ira answered, pointing to the struggling blond.

"What for?" Ash asked.

"_Because he thinks of you as his..._" Fenrir answered angrily.

"His?" Ash wondered, totally and completely astounded.

"_He likes you, doesn't he?_" Fenrir growled angrily.

"knew it!" Ash said proudly, she took the whole thing a bit too lightly, but her knees felt weak and she plopped down on the floor.

"_Fenrir..._" Ira growled angrily, holding Fenrir's neck between her jaws, he immediately whimpered.

"You should go after him..." Cloud said, once he let go of the now calmly threatened Fenrir.

"I would, but I'm kinda having a mental victory dance along with a little 'oh ma gawd, he likes me' panic thing..." Ash blabbed, then she snapped angrily at Fenrir, "you idiot! Don't tell me things like this!! Things I'm not supposed to know! Even if it's something not important!"

"_I hate him; I don't care what happens..._" Fenrir muttered darkly.

"If you're gonna act like that, then you can stop caring about me too, if you hate any of my friends that's worse than hating me! Man, you're such an idiot!" Ash said angrily, then suddenly her voice turned wolfishly scary, "and you're over protectiveness is just... annoying! At first it was cute, but now it's infuriating!! If you know I will give him my Heart then don't hate him because of it, hate **me**! I'm the one loving the guy, right??"

"_My apologies... my Queen..._" Fenrir bowed his head, truly sorry.

"Sorry, I just had to explode sometime... I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that, it's just that... well, you really shouldn't have told me that, and stop being so protective, I mean, I can take care of myself now, I am a grownup..." Ash muttered, holding out her hand for Fenrir, who nuzzled it and walked closer to her, she wrapped her arms around him, "I'm sorry..."

"You still should go after him..." Cloud repeated.

"Yes, but... why should he go and get jealous? Doesn't he know that you will never like me more than a friend?" Ash asked Cloud, who shrugged.

"_Love makes you blind..._" Ira said wisely.

"Blind? You mean simple-mindedly dumb?" Ash asked jokingly.

"_That can work, too._" Ira said lightly, rubbing her head against Fenrir's throat lovingly, who instantly began to rumble slightly.

"Ew! Get a room!!" Ash yelled, dragging Cloud up with her, "listen, I'm gonna take my time, I need to vent... I mean, kill Heartless," Ash smiled slightly, "and sorry if it was awkward for you, I'm not usually like that."

"What are you pm-" Cloud began jokingly, but Ira who closed in on Ash and sniffed her near the legs.

"_No, she's not..._" Ira answered calmly, as soon as Ash understood she gasped in shock and almost toppled off the cliff.

"Careful, Ash, I don't want Leon to kill me..." Cloud said jokingly.

"hardy har har," she muttered angrily, crossing her arms, "now run off, child, I need some alone time."

"yes, ma'me." Cloud said saluting her, as soon as he set off on a run, Ira and Fenrir ran after him.

"Leon..." Ash murmured sadly, sighing, she sat down again, staring out at the setting sun, in what felt like minutes to Ash, the sun was down and the moon was up, glowing brightly in the dark sky, and it slowly became dark enough for her to be barely able to see, and the rain began to fall on her, she twirled around in the rain, she always loved it.

After a brief rain dance, Ash headed back to Merlin's house. Not exactly a safe way is it?

* * *

"Where is she?" Leon questioned Cloud as soon as he entered the house, eyebrows furrowed, his jaw set and fists clenched.

"She told me to come back here, she wanted time to think." Cloud answered, and as he began to head up the stairs, he turned his head to survey Leon over his shoulder, "you know, she would never betray you," he began, "you should hear the way she talks about you..."

"What do you mean?" Leon snapped, turning around to face Cloud.

"Simply that her Heart is already yours, all you need to do is take it..." Cloud said wisely, turning around and heading up the stairs.

"Cloud?" Leon called, said man turned to face him. Leon gave him an apologetic-thankful look, and Cloud nodded, giving him a semi-smile, "she works wonders doesn't she?"

"Yeah, she's... **your** definition of... perfect." Cloud said in a joking tone. Leon smiled to him and went to sit down; he picked up the book, 'The Legendary Beast', and began reading.

Time passed by, Leon glanced at the watch every few seconds, time ticked by so very slowly.

"Leon?" Aerith called to him, "what're you doing?"

"Waiting for-"

"Ash?" Yuffie cut in, giving him a grin.

"We'll wait with you," Cloud said, coming in through the kitchen door, how he managed to get there, no one knew. And so, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cloud seated themselves around in the small living room.

Time ticked by a little less slowly.

"Why don't we play Truth or Dare?" Yuffie piped up.

"Pictionary?" Aerith suggested.

"No that's boring!" Yuffie said, "Truth or Dare!"

Cloud silently agreed, and Leon nodded as he glanced worriedly at the clock. Yuffie found a small bottle of Ash's favorite drink, Blue Cade, she placed in the middle of the small circle they formed and they began playing.

"Cloud, truth or dare?" Yuffie asked.

"Truth."

"How strong are you?" she couldn't come up with a better question, her brain was dead from lack of sleep.

"I can lift you and the coach you're sitting on with ease."

"Whoa!" Yuffie muttered.

"Aerith, Truth or dare?" Leon asked tiredly, hardly even concentrating on the game, his mind was running somewhere in the dark depths, along with the person closest to his heart, he glared viciously at the clock, why would she go out and leave him here with a bunch of boring, not perverted people who are definitely not like her? And why would she go out unprotected?

"Truth." Aerith said quietly.

"Where's Ash?" Leon asked absent mindedly.

"Err... I donno..." Aerith answered.

"How about we do something else?" Cloud suggested, instantly receiving nods from the girls.

"This game is no fun without Ash," Yuffie said, sighing, earning a nod from Aerith, at which Cloud raised an eyebrow.

"She asks the funniest questions!" Aerith answered, giggling lightly at the memory of one.

"And the most embarrassing! She asked Cid if he was a virg-" Yuffie began, but began laughing hysterically, "and onetime, she told Merlin to-" and then she burst into a fit of laughter, Cloud calmly raised an eyebrow.

"How about cards?" Aerith said, she knew Cloud and Leon would easily win because they had the best poker faces. Yuffie nodded, yawning, Cloud smirked and Leon shrugged.

A game of card later, a cup of black coffee sat beside Cloud and another one beside Leon, who held a can of whipped cream in his hand, Aerith was munching on a cake, and Yuffie was stuffing her face with cookies.

"These are delicious! Who made them?" Yuffie questioned.

"Ash." Leon answered sadly, grabbing one, topping it with cream and stuffing it into his mouth then it was followed by a big gulp of coffee, "she better come back soon or I swear I'll go after her and kick her butt to Never Never Land..."

"As if you'll manage to be angry with her for more than a second when you see her..." Yuffie muttered, grabbing another cookie and eating it.

"You should eat some of these," Leon pointed to one of the cookies, then he grabbed one, topped it with cream, and handed it to Cloud, "here, it's delicious."

"Leon? Are you okay?" Aerith asked worriedly.

Leon didn't answer, he simply grabbed another cookie, topped it with cream, grabbed another one put it on top, and then threw it into his mouth, followed by another bout of coffee.

Suddenly, the door was thrown open and in stumbled Ash, covered in blood, sweat and rain. She had wounds all over her body, her sword fell at her side, dripping small drops of Darkness, because she had slain one too many Heartless. Her clothes tattered and covered in blood, her hair sticky with it all.

"hey guys," Ash began, her tone faint and weak, she had an angry look on her face, "damn Heartless..." then it vanished when she caught sight of the panic stricken Leon, a smile took its place, happy to see his face again, "Leon, I think I'm gonna pass out..."

"Ash!" yelled Leon as he jumped to her side; his heart skipped a beat at her sight. She staggered towards him, and he held out his arms to hold her.

"Yeah, I'm gonna pass out now," and she fell limp in his arms. Aerith hurriedly closed the door, and Yuffie jumped to clear the way to Ash and Leon's bedroom, while Cloud picked up her weapons and helped Leon pick her up.

They woke Merlin up, told him Ash was injured and he set out to work. He kicked out Cloud (and attempted to kick Leon out, who quickly protested) saying he needed more room. Leon was holding her hand worriedly, Aerith was busy cleaning up Ash's wounds, and Yuffie was also kicked out of the room. Leon look so afraid, afraid of losing her, he stared at her face wishing he could see her warm smile again, it always made him feel better, feel relieved that her warmth was still there.

But as soon as the wounds became in areas Leon –as a male- was forbidden to see without Ash's permission, he was kicked out of the room.

Cloud and Leon stood outside Ash's room, waiting worriedly to see Ash, they knew she would live, but they were still worried. They saw Aerith coming in and out of the room, holding bowls of hot water filled with blood, towels dripping with the precious red liquid.

Leon bit his bottom lip as he walked back and forth in worry, his arms crossed, and his form tense as he waited. He contemplated on how worried he was, was it because she was a friend? He glanced at Cloud who was worried but not nearly as much as Leon, he glanced at Aerith who was frowning in worry; but not to Leon's and Cloud's extent, _apparently not._ Was it because she was like a best friend to him? The closest thing to his heart? _Possibly._ But did he simply love her as a friend? Or as something more? _Judging by my heart beat when she is around, and by the fact that _

_when she's there I feel lighter and happier, and that right now, I'm fretting like crazy because she's hurt when I know it isn't serious, but I'm angry because I wasn't there to protect her! She's definitely something more. _The door opened as Aerith exited with a bowl of hot water and towels, he saw a brief glimpse of Ash, and for a second he saw her eyes open, her lips forming a smile, _I definitely love her... _

"Leon, hurry! Pick her up! We need to get her to the bathroom!" Aerith yelled to him, "Cloud, help Yuffie find suitable clothes for Ash!"

Leon hurried into the room, picked up Ash's bloody form bridal style, and lifted her up. It made him angry to see her like that, his heart pounded in his chest in worry, she looked so fragile and weak. In seconds he laid her in the water-filled bath tub.

"Yuffie! Get in here!" yelled Aerith, as she ran into the bathroom, "Leon, I'm sorry, but you need to get out, we have to clean her up!"

Leon silently nodded, the worry and fear eating at him like a deadly disease, but before Leon could get out, Aerith stopped him.

"A few seconds ago she woke up," Aerith said, "She said, "Leon's a simple-minded idiot, but we like him," I didn't understand but I figured you might."

They heard someone snort and then a little stifled chuckle, Leon walked out to see it was Cloud.

"Do you...?" Leon began, Cloud nodded, "do I want to know?" Cloud shook his head, "perfect, you two have inside jokes now..."

"don't worry, I won't take away what's already yours," Cloud said, a brief smile spread on his face, then the two chuckled lightly, and waited downstairs for news on Ash.

"Hey," Aerith appeared, she looked absolutely tired, "that girl got pretty banged up," she said with a sigh as she sat down, "you should get some sleep. Seeing as she always sleeps more than we do somehow, she will probably sleep and wake up at nine or twelve in the afternoon."

"True," Leon chuckled lightly.

"You're going to sleep in the same room as Cloud, okay?" Aerith commanded, Leon nodded, a yawn escaping him. He stood up, soon followed by Cloud and Aerith.

* * *

twelve pages, people... TWELVE!! see? I am a loyal Authoress! :D anyay, Chapta THIRTEEN is in zee making, I hope i finish it up tomorrow... it all depends on the whole house re-organizing/changing floors thing... anyway, I'm purtty sure it's more than eight pages though...

please review!! I updated quickly!! so please review!! please, please??


	12. Chapter 12

oh mi god, Chapter twleve, I didnt think i'd ever get this far! when I first thought of this I hadnt even made up a plot!! hehe!! I think you noticed that the first three chapters suck compared to these... right? the story was, at the time, a side thing not exactly getting my attention, but I put my other story on hold so I can write this one and finish it up!! :D YAAAY! TWELVE!! THIRTEEN IS COMING UP SOON! Ash's favorite number!! :D yay! so now review people! boost my confidence!! please! for the next chapter!!

**Chapter twelve: **

Aerith stood near the stove in her light pink Pajamas, Yuffie was lounging on the coach in her black shorts and grey T-shirt, Leon sat in a chair near the table, a cup of coffee in one hand wearing navy blue pajama pants with cobalt blue stripes at the side, while Cloud wore black pants, and a white shirt, a cup of coffee in one hand and a cookie in the other; his new addiction.

"When's Ash gonna wake up?" Yuffie groaned from her position on the coach, an arm slung over her face, shielding her from the light.

"Already am, Yuffs!" Ash said cheerfully as she bounded into the room, wearing what seemed like Cloud's pants and Leon's white shirt, and she managed to pull it off. The girl danced her way into the kitchen, throwing an arm around Leon's shoulders, giving him a grin as he squirmed slightly, then she turned to Cloud, bit her lip and stared at his hair, "I just noticed, your hair is so tempting."

Cloud raised an eyebrow.

"I'll let you touch it if you make more of these cookies," Cloud said, giving her a smirk, she nodded happily and instantly she reached out to touch. Man oh man the girl enjoyed it! She ruffled his hair enough for it to stand spikier than before when she was through with it.

"I smell..." Ash began, she sniffed the air, and her eyes sparkled, "coffee!"

Leon pointed to the mug in his hands, one second it was there and the next Ash was taking a sip from it.

"Tasty!" she exclaimed, handing back the mug, "thanks."

She stood up, and began rummaging in the cupboards. They seemed too high for her so she stood on tip toes and stretched herself. She knew that both Leon's eyes and Cloud's eyes were on her so she intentionally acted a little seductive. She knew that Cloud's pants hung low on her waist, and that Leon's shirt made her breasts seem bigger. Immediately when she stretched a little she heard someone choke on their coffee and another spit it out completely, she struggled to keep herself from laughing. she turned around giving the most innocent look she could sum up, to see both Leon and Cloud staring at her, half glaring half blushing, the girl raised an eyebrow and moved to work on her coffee.

She moved on to the counter top and began mixing the coffee with the sugar as she waited for the water to boil. She hummed a tune moving her waist along with it.

"Unbelievable..." she heard Cloud mutter, then she heard someone slamming a mug down on the table, a growl and then Leon suddenly appeared behind her. He took the mug from her hands, added another spoon of coffee, half a spoon of sugar, and added the boiling water, then stirred it and handed it to her.

"Here," Leon muttered, he walked back to his seat and Ash followed, she sat down next to him as per usual.

"Can I borrow these clothes?" Ash asked, and then smirked as she continued, "they are really working for me..."

"You little-" Cloud began.

"Aint nothin' little about me!" Ash cut in, then straightened herself, and stared down at herself, "and you know it!"

"..." Cloud glared intensely at her and she grinned at him, Leon shook his head.

"You're unbelievable," he muttered, taking a sip of his coffee.

"And you're lookin' hott today…" Ash said, and to her enjoyment Leon spit out the coffee and it soaked up Cloud, instantly, Ash began to laugh hysterically, Yuffie soon joined her, while Cloud glared like crazy at Ash, "oh fine, you look hott too, Cloud,"

Cloud's face went completely blank; he stared at her then stared at Leon who was chuckling silently.

"You should be jealous, idiot." Cloud said as he stood up walking away from the table, and up the stairs.

"Oh, c'mon Cloudy, don't be such a sour puss," Ash yelled to him jokingly.

"Shut up, McPervy!" he yelled down to her.

"Yes!!" Ash yelled happily, "Creativity prevails!!"

"Ash," Leon said as she sat down next to him.

"Yes, hottie?" Ash said, sniggering at the blank look.

"Uh... prepare yourself," he said quietly, glancing at Aerith meaningfully.

"You see... Ash, we restored most of the houses in these weeks and Cid's already going off to get the citizens, so we were thinking-" Aerith began.

"Of doing a celebration!" Yuffie said happily, appearing at Ash's side in seconds.

"Like a p- pa- part- party-y?" Ash said, jokingly struggling to say the word.

"Yes! Like a party!" exclaimed Yuffie happily.

"Well, more like a masquerade ball..." Aerith said, sitting down in front of Ash, Leon sat silently next to Ash, like an emotional support, as if to tell her he was suffering as well.

"With costumes!" Yuffie added in joy.

"Costumes? Are you trying to make me shoot myself?" Ash questioned quietly, "but hey, It might be fun!"

Leon almost toppled off his chair.

"So you're in?" Aerith asked happily.

"You betcha!" Ash said, grinning big. Yuffie and Aerith high-fived each other, and as soon as they walked away Ash turned to Leon, "where's Cloud's sword? I'm gonna stab myself repeatedly in the heart."

"At least you're not suffering alone, Cloud almost threw a tantrum, he told them he'll be there but there's not a chance in hell he would dress up," Leon said in amusement, "but I, on the other hand, have to be a gentleman and agree, I, sadly enough, am gonna wear a costume."

Instantly, Ash was rolling on the floor in laughter, "you?" some more laughter, "a costume?"

"Yes, and you too," Leon said, spoiling Ash's fun. As soon as Ash finished her coffee, "c'mon, we are gonna go get some other civilians, Aerith, Cloud, and Yuffie are gonna work on the rest of the houses."

Ash stood up and followed Leon up to their room, she immediately ran to his closet and grabbed her favorite jacket, the old one, the one he labeled 'Squall's and not mine', but because Ash loved it he changed the label into 'Ash's favorite'. She sat down on her bed, and watched him as he walked around the room. Unfortunately, the first thing he put on was his shirt, which blocked her fantastic view. Then he walked out to change.

"Party pooper." Ash mumbled, she shrugged her shoulders, but then noticed that Leon had forgotten his necklace so she formed a plan.

Leon walked out of the bathroom fully dressed, he remembered that he forgot his necklace in the bedroom, and as he walked towards it, he heard someone squeal, and another laugh, Aerith and Yuffie. As he walked in, he saw what they were laughing at, Ash wore his leather jacket, a bunch of belts hung on her waist, gloves on, and his treasured necklace hung from her neck. His eyes widened, the girl looked, for some reason, amazing, the same sparkle from his silver necklace was in her eyes, her hair contrasted beautifully with the fur if the jacket and her green eyes made everything look better.

"how do I look?" she asked, as Aerith drew a line with a dark red lipstick just like his scar, and Leon held back a gasp, he bit his lip.

"Can you act like him?" Yuffie questioned.

"Let me try," she cleared her throat, then fixed up her posture and went to lean on a wall. She closed her eyes as if thinking.

"what's-" Cloud walked in, immediately catching sight of Ash, and for a second he look disoriented, glancing between the actual Leon and the fake one, "wow."

"Hey, Leon." Yuffie greeted Ash, who glanced up with a frown, gave her a nod and resumed leaning on a wall.

"Hey Leon? How's it going between you and Ash?" Cloud asked, folding his arms across his chest, Ash looked shocked on her behalf and on his, and then she held her breath.

"Ash, what're you doing?" Leon asked her as he approached.

"Back off, I'm trying to go red!" Ash yelled, and resumed holding her breath. Leon blinked at her in shock, while the others laughed.

"So Leon... seeing as you think Ash is really hott and perfect, when are you gonna pop the question?" Cloud asked again, and instantly regretted it, for Leon, the actual Leon, pounced on him and tackled him to the ground.

"Oi! Leon, get off of him! I'm supposed to be doing that!!" Ash said holding back a laugh, and when Leon didn't respond, she dove in after him.

"Ow!! My hair!!"

"Stop yanking my ear!"

"I think I'm gonna get a black eye!"

"You idiot!"

"Get off me!"

"Banana!" that one was obviously Ash.

"No! Not there!!"

"Oh mee gawd! I'm gonna become a flat-chested woman!"

"urgh! Leon, you're choking me!"

"You deserve it!"

"Don't kill him!!"

"No!! NO TICKLING!!"

"It's your fault for jumping in!!"

"Leon! Quit feeling me up!"

"Ow!"

"I think I just coughed up a tooth!"

"No touchy!"

"Hey guys?" Aerith interrupted them, "food's ready."

"Food!" exclaimed Ash jumping up.

"Oh, no you don't!" Leon yelled, jumping over Cloud to go after her.

"You're not going anywhere!" Cloud yelled, running after them.

"Why'd you have to ruin my entertainment?" Yuffie asked sadly, walking after them with a half empty box of popcorn.

The group dug in. And as soon as they finished, Leon, Ash and Cloud got their weapons and headed out of the house, but before that they stood in the kitchen to listen to Aerith and Yuffie talk about their dance.

"So, what're you gonna dress up as?" Yuffie questioned the group.

"I think I'm going as a fairy," Aerith answered.

"With the wand and everything?" Ash asked, staring in shock at Aerith. She imagined her wearing a hot pink dress with a fluffy rim, pink wings attached that also had a pink rim, with one of those tacky sparkly wands, Aerith nodded, "suits you."

"What about you Ash?" Yuffie questioned her.

"I donno," Ash muttered, giving a thoughtful look.

"Leon?"

"I-" he began.

"A vampire!" Ash answered for him, "Yeah, you'd look goooooood as that," she gave him a smirk, "fangs, paleness, and I think a weird looking black suit," then she looked thoughtfully at him, "wow!"

Leon gave her a frown then spoke up. "Ice Queen!"

"Huh?" Ash said in confusion.

"Well, although you are too warm, but you do look good in silver hair," Leon began, "and if you dress up in something, black, navy, and cobalt blue... it would work great."

Ash couldn't resist smiling.

"Cloud?" Aerith turned to him, giving him a sweet look, and immediately he closed his eyes.

"At least I'm coming..." he uttered darkly.

"But can you at least wear a suit?" Ash suggested, "For their sake?"

"Fine..." he sighed in defeat.

"What about you Yuffie?" Ash asked, and boy that was a mistake, that simple four word question led into a detailed description of what she, as a fire demon, would wear and what her date, who seemed to be going as Ifrit, would wear. Ash almost passed out.

"So, we are going now," Leon interrupted Yuffie, "getting another group of citizens,"

"But aren't you supposed to get a call from Cid?" Aerith asked, handing him his mobile, telling her he already got the call was out of the question now, but suddenly the phone began to ring, Leon answered the phone and once he opened it the caller closed off, but he continued anyway.

"Cid?" Leon answered, "Yeah. We are on the way," he closed the phone, took hold of Ash's hand and dragged her off. As soon as they were out of the house, he turned to her, "nice move with the call."

"Thanks," she said, pocketing her mobile, they headed off in the direction of the Ragnarok, "I love this Ship!"

"Look," he pointed to a painting hanging on the wall. Ash grinned big, it was the one she drew for him, and it hung there on the wall, giving the whole room color.

The two sat in the cockpit, enjoying their privacy. Ash was completely focused on flying while Leon was perfectly enjoying the fact that she answered all his questions in the shortest way.

"Ash, how are you?"

"Great."

"You're a great pilot, you know that?"

"Thanks."

"Want a sandwich?"

"No."

"Music?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"You suck."

"At what?"

"Music."

"Gee, thanks."

"Anytime."

A while passed, and Leon chose to start asking her form of annoying questions.

"What type of music do you listen to?"

"Rock."

"You like rocks? But rocks are dull!"

"No, Rock."

"Yes, a rock, it's a thing, it's not music."

"Rock music."

"Rocks have music?"

"No, the Rock genre."

"There's a genre made of rocks?" he now understood why she had a thing for annoying him, it was so fun!

"Leon."

"Yes, pumpkin?"

"Pumpkin?"

"mhmm, it's your nickname, you like?"

"No."

"Aw, why not? How about... Dumpling?"

"No."

"Mage pie?"

"No."

"Sugar?"

"No."

"Sweet cheeks?"

"Nope."

"My little cute sugar pie-"

"Never!"

"Party pooper."

"I kill you."

"Naw, you like me too much."

"True."

"Oh, I like you too..."

"Jerk."

"Klutz."

"Old geezer."

"Now now, Ash, no need to be cruel."

"Cruel?"

"Yes, like cruella devill."

"Shut up."

"Cruel."

"Leon."

"McSteamy."

"McDreamy."

"Weirdo."

"Stalker."

"Pervert," he whispered this to her in her ear, intentionally brushing his lips against her ear.

"METEOR!!" Ash suddenly yelled, jumping forward and zooming away from the path of said meteor.

"Way to ruin the moment, noob."

"noob?"

"Yes, you are a newbie to all of this."

"All of what?"

"This."

"The cockpit?"

"No you idiot, this." He said pointing at the two of them.

"Spiritual journey?"

"No," he growled, "forget about it."

"Forget about what?"

"This."

"which is?"

"..." Leon sighed, realizing she had switched the whole thing, "a chicken."

"Oh ma gawd, a chicken?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"Right here," pointing at her.

"Where?"

"There."

"Leon, are you sick? You're imagining things."

"Nope, I'm pretty sure you're a-"

"HEARTLESS!!" Ash blared out loudly. She pressed the buttons quickly and killed them all, "Leon, could you get me a sandwich?"

"No,"

"Remind me to bite you."

"Bite me?"

"Yes, love," she answered, turning to him as she switched on the auto pilot.

"Why do you keep calling me 'love'?" Leon asked her, frowning at her. She stood up, heading for the hangar, for they landed in Traverse town.

"I donno. Why? Do you want me to stop?" Ash asked him as she walked down the plank and into the wide space filled with hangars, ships and a small group of people.

"No... I was just... asking..."he replied, Cid approached the two slowly.

"..." a giggle sounded next to him, but before he could ask Ash about it Cid began talking.

"There're twelve people, and you gotta figure out a way ta fit'em all in," he began, "there's a family of four,"

"So that's two rooms," Ash said, closing two fingers from the outstretched ten.

"And another of three," Cid continued.

"That's one," Ash said, closing another finger.

"And another of four," Cid said, Ash closed two fingers leaving three, but closed another finger as Cid continued, "and a single. Plus some others if ya can manage."

"We've got two empty rooms left," Leon said.

"How 'bout ya take them moogles?" Cid said, and as soon as the two nodded, he gave a loud whistle. Four small moogles appeared on sight, carrying boxes that seemed too big for them.

"Help us with these, kupo!" one of them said, as he struggled with what he was holding. Ash held back a laugh and went to aid them.

Leon led the twelve people into the ship, giving them a minor tour of it on the way, he yelled at a kid for touching his painting with drool covered hands making Ash chuckle lightly. She helped the moogles settle in, then ran to the three ducks, 'Duey, Heuy and Luey', who greeted her enthusiastically and gave her two free hi-potions for being their pilot and their first customer. On the way back to her room, her stomach began to make lovely music for her, so she bounded for the kitchen.

As soon as she entered, she found Leon sitting there, quietly drinking his coffee.

"Well aren't you a caffeine addict?" she said as she pranced towards the fridge, "what are you doing here?"

"Got bored, looked for you, not much of a find, came here, made coffee and waited," Leon said, taking another sip if his coffee.

"Waited?" Ash turned to face him, a confused look on her face.

"Yes, you see... if I couldn't find you, I'm sure you'll find me," he said confidently, another sip.

"How about you try to make me squirm?"

"What?" Leon stared up at her.

"You're bored aren't you?" he nodded, "make me squirm, I'll try not to end up making you squirm," she gave him an inviting smile, "go ahead."

"How exactly...?" Leon began.

"be perverted and open, physical works too," she said absent mindedly, turning to pull out the jam and peanut butter. And suddenly he stood right behind her, his hands taking hold of hers, his head wresting on her shoulder.

"Physical?" Leon asked her, he moved forwards, brushing his lips against the side of her neck, then he placed them on her tattoo area, and sure enough, he heard her gasp, she was about to move away from him, the sheer thought of the feeling her tattoo made her feel made him wrap his arms around her waist pulling her closer to him, he whispered her name in her ear and then she began to laugh hysterically, he sighed sadly, "Ash..."

"Sorry but..." she laughed, and then she straightened up, "here, let me show you how it's done,"

"..." Leon could hear his heart getting faster and faster as she got closer and closer. There she was, her face inches from his, too close for him to resist.

"being a pervert has it's perks," she began, steadily getting closer, she was close enough for him to feel her hot breath, "Leon," she said, leaning closer, her hands wrapping around his neck as his instinctively grasped the table top. She leaned into him, most of her body was in contact with his, "Leon," he could feel her lips brush against his as she muttered his name, then she stopped.

His brain yelled out to him to stop, but he struggled to listen to it, it was as if her own breath was going to his brain making it fuzzy, he licked the inside of his lips and 

wondered if he should actually lean forward and do it or not. Before he could even make up his mind, she had pulled away.

"See? Pretty simple..." Ash said, he noticed that she was slightly shaken up, she leaned in and gave him a kiss near the lips "save it for later," she winked at him. She sat down, and dug into her food. He sat down next to her.

"Man you're good..." he said, glancing up at her, she grinned at him. It shocked him how much seemed comfortable with herself, as if she knew her extents and her limits, she knew her effect on people, and it shocked him how she could toy with people's emotions and their limits.

"Thanks," Ash said, and soon enough she lost interest in the food and dragged Leon off to the deck, "Leon?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you," she said, turning around to face him, smiling sweetly to him, "for everything,"

He smiled to her, in that special way that she was sure to be the only person able to see, she grinned big to him and took hold of his hand.

"Leon, did Ira tell you why Fenrir hates you?" she said, smiling slightly, Leon nodded, "Cloud helped me understand it, but I'm still confused..."

He raised an eyebrow to her.

"You see, have you noticed that I always say I love something, but never I love someone?" Ash began, Leon nodded, he definitely noticed that, "what I'm about to say is gonna be weird, and yes, I know it's stupid but..." she shrugged, "I love my family, I can say that because it's obvious, its natural and everyone feels that way about their family. But you see, something in me won't let me admit that I love someone, unless I truly, madly do, which has never happened."

"Why?" Leon asked simply.

"I've got issues, love!" Ash said, grinning up at him, "besides, I... guess it's like a hiccup in my system..."

"But that's just... odd, you're always so straight forward and open and now I find out that you have this 'hiccup'? You're just bizarre..." Leon said, shaking his head, no trace of a smile on his face, "you're always making other people open up and get rid of their problems when you have one of your own, you give us directions that you don't even follow!"

"..." Ash looked completely taken aback, "Leon, my problem isn't that much of a big deal! it doesn't mean that I don't...You know, feel love, I do, but I can't admit it..."

"Which is a problem!" Leon said firmly, "Let's say someone's in love with you... uh, me for example, and I told you I do, then what would you do? Say thanks and walk away?"

"No! I would... I would..." Ash was lost for words, how would she tell him she loved him?

"See? It is a problem!" Leon repeated, having proved his point, he walked away, leaving Ash alone.

If anyone actually told her they loved her, what would she do? Smile and say thank you? Nod and walk away? But then, wouldn't she be a moron? An inconsiderate idiot basking in her emotional struggle?

If Leon told her he loved her, what would she do? Stare and say nothing? _He would never do it anyway..._ Ash said, walking away from where she stood, when she spun around she caught Leon's eyes, he seemed so sad and disappointed, as if she had stepped on his hopes and dreams. _What would I do?_

* * *

I got the game,

And it's not lame,

I get to play with Zack,

Who gives all evil people a smack.

And then there's Cloud,

Who's not at all loud.

Here comes Aerith,

With her stinky breath.

And then there's Reeve,

Who has a brother named Steve (happens to be imaginary… from my brilliant mind)

Hi there Tifa!

Who shares boobs with Queen Latifa! (BIG BOOBIED BERTHA!!)

And then there's Yuffie

Who's really goofy.

And then there's Sephiroth

Who's not at all related to Sloth!

And his buddy Genesis

Who's good at synthesis! (I think…)

Angeal, owner of the buster sword,

Dreams! Honor! A true Lord! (now that one sucked)

Yes a poem about me getting Final Fantasy: Crisis Core!! I (heart) it! Zack is just awesome!! He and Ash would totally work! They would hit it off easily!! He's a hilarious and funny! And she's perverted and well… she's Ash!! :D so listen, remember how I mentioned Zack before? I didn't actually mean Zack Fair but I've thought of a way to get him here!! If you feel like it would work then tell me so in a review!! Please? Pretty pretty please? You could simply say 'yes' or like 'Zack' in a review and I would understand!! Please!! :D I've got chapter thirteen right here!! There's a HUGE GIGANTIC bit of ACTION for Ash and Leon there!!

Thanks PhoenixFeather for saying their cute together!! After all… 'opposites attract' right? :DDD

by the way chapter thirteen and chapter twleve were first a single chapter, a chapter of 27 pages... so I had to cut them in half so that I wouldn't drive you blind!! see, I care!!

now review!!


	13. Chapter 13

you know... if this was a chocolate... it would be a Double Decker, or Galaxy, or... CHOCOLATE!! sorry... yesterday I ate chocolate... like a lot.. bacjk to the point! Oh Ma Gawd is this chapter Ash and Leon filled... like seriously!! hahahaa!! wait til you read the part!! please review!! like this chapter really needs a review!! please!! puh-lease!! :D

**Chapter thirteen:**

"Actions speak louder than words," she murmured to herself, and then she turned to Leon and walked closer to him, the look on his face never vanishing. She gave him this amazing smile, one that was so true, so happy and warm that Leon's eyes widened, his lips parted slightly in a silent gasp, his heart skipped a beat, he had a hard time breathing as she got closer. she stood in front of him, the wind blowing at her hair, "Leon,"

"..." he gulped as she raised her hand and caressed the side of his face, and with her free hand she took hold of his.

"You never know what I would do until you actually say it," Ash muttered, then her hand trailed up his arm and wrapped around his neck loosely. She gave him a warm inviting smile, and he had another mental battle, should he tell her or not? Give her the truth and nothing but the truth? Follow his instincts along with Rinoa's advice? His lips slowly parted, but before he could even say a word, they heard something fall and a sudden gasp, they turned around to see the culprit, 'That Girl' was sprawled on the floor of the deck.

Ash pulled away, a small disappointed smile on her face, then it suddenly transformed into an intense glare.

"What do you want?" she asked the girl viciously.

"Uh.. I... uh.. n-nothing!" she said in the same squeaky voice.

"Hoe..."Ash shook her head slightly, turned to Leon and gave him a light kiss on the cheek, and then she whispered in his ear, "If she does something, tell me, I swear I'll punch her in the face so hard her teeth will fall out..."

"So violent," Leon whispered back jokingly, sure she was violent, but he liked it, "I promise I will..."

She pulled away from him, glaring intensely at the girl. Their hands lingered in the air as she walked away, then they broke apart. His chance gone.

"Umm... hey Leon," Ash heard the girl say in her fake feminine voice, "I finally have..."

Ash couldn't hear the rest as she walked away and into the cockpit. It was so close, she was so close to telling him how she felt, she could see how he felt in his eyes, a hidden feeling she wanted to know so bad. She sat down in her place and picked up the speaker, she saw that the deck icon was lit up, meaning someone was up there, she pressed that button and spoke into the speaker, "this is the pilot speaking, we have to increase speed, and it will get dangerous if you stay there, please go to a safer place." Then she switched it off, removing the effect of the button, she watched it as it suddenly grew dark, no one was on the deck, she picked up the speaker again, only this time she pushed all buttons except the one for the deck, "ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, ducks and dogs, moogles and chocobos, we will be heading to Hollow Bastion now, so prepare yourselves for an increase in speed, we will reach our destination in six hours. Enjoy your flight. The deck and engine room are prohibited."

A few minutes later, Leon walked in.

"I sorted out the sleeping arrangements, you and I will be staying in our rooms," Leon said quietly, then suddenly spoke up in distress, "that girl is nuts! She's been stalking me ever since I got off the deck!"

"Your fault for being hott," Ash said jokingly, "if she does anything else, I will kill her, that's a promise."

"Thanks, it wouldn't be good for a guy to hit a girl," Leon said quietly, taking his place beside her.

"We all know that, Lion-boy," Ash said, putting on the speaker thing. She turned to survey Leon, who was staring off at the screen in front of them, a dreamy look on his face. Her heart swelled for some reason, and she bit her lip in thought, _I wonder how I'm supposed to tell him?..._ her thoughts stopped as he turned to her, a smile lit up his face, _damn proverbial pride..._she grinned to him, remembering that every time he was bored he came to her, "have you noticed that when you're bored you come to me?"

"Yeah, that's because..." he frowned, he really didn't know why, Ash giggled lightly.

"I swear I'm gonna kill That Girl..." Ash suddenly said out of the blue. He looked up at her to see her glaring at something out of the corner of her eye, when he looked at it he noticed that the access hatch that lead to the Engine room was open, "B!tch? Didn't I just tell you people to stay out of the Engine Room?"

Instantly, her glare intensified and quickly the hatch closed.

"Excuse my French," Ash said, turning to Leon who had an amused smirk on, "she's so annoying," then she frowned, "what're you smirking for?"

"..." Ash gave him a confused look, "because people are scared of your glare and that is useful to me..."

Hours later, Ash and Leon were getting sleepy, switching on the auto pilot they headed out of the cockpit together.

"I'm so friggin' sleepy..." Ash muttered as she yawned. She looked up at Leon who was staring at her fondly, "quit staring, man! You're starting to drool!"

Instantly Leon snapped out of it, only to throw an arm around her shoulders, pulling her towards him. Ash was caught off guard but then she noticed two eyes peeking out of a room to their left, That Girl, Ash quickly leaned into Leon, smiling lightly to him, she couldn't help but notice how comforting it was. They stood near Ash's room, talking.

"So creepy..." Ash muttered shaking her head. Leon nodded smiling slightly when Ash proceeded to glare viciously at said girl.

"What should we do to make her go away?" Leon questioned, casually leaning into Ash, who glanced at him, immediately noticing his closeness, "may I?"

"If it'll make her go away, sure!" Ash said smiling. She leaned back as Leon pinned her to the door, his lips touching her skin lightly, driving her insane, her control weakening as he continued, going up and down the side of her neck, then he 

reached her jaw line, planting a kiss there then lowering down to whisper in her ear. It was not unlike Ash's situation for Leon, who was having a hard time holding back, he yearned to lose it on her, to be able to kiss her like he wanted, but unfortunately he couldn't, he whispered to her, "Is she... gone?"

Ash struggled to take control and glance at where the girl once stood.

"Yeah, she's gone," she answered, biting her lip as Leon planted a single kiss on the back of her neck, on the feather-shaped tattoo. He pulled away, muttering a quick 'night' as he headed off to his room. Ash quickly entered her room, happily lying down on her bed, she sighed as her finger trailed down her neck, _such a feeling... never felt it before_...

She went off in her routine, bathroom, change clothes, and then jump into bed. Halfway into jumping in her bed, the door knocked urgently. She was fully prepared to give the knocker a piece of her mind, but when she opened the door to see Leon, such thoughts vanished.

"Leon?" she said, a confused look on her face. She opened the door a little wider and instantly he ran in, shutting the door behind him. He began to say something but Ash was busy drooling, at what else but his bare chest, but she snapped out of her reverie to hear him say something like "-about to forcibly rape-"

"Oh ma gawd! Rape?" Ash yelled, then immediately laughing, "No wait," she threw open her door, and bounded off to find That Girl. Leon was too tired to get up and see what she was doing, but his eagerness to see That Girl get punched senseless was something hard to resist, he ran after Ash only to find her telling off the girl.

"You have no right to say anything," said That Girl, "you're just a stupid girl who has a crush on my Leon!"

"Your Leon? Your...?" Ash said, astonished and infuriated by the girl's guts. Suddenly Ash's left fist went up in the air, and zoomed towards said girl, it smashed into her face painfully, Leon heard two things crack, the girl's jaw and Ash's knuckles, the girl gasped in rage and attempted to claw Ash's eye out, but Ash only received a scratch for her arm shot out, grabbed the girl's hand and wrung it, Leon was sure Ash's knuckles were crying out to her brain in pain, but nonetheless, Ash raised her leg and delivered a kick that sent the girl flying, she approached the beaten-up girl, picked her up by the collar, and said coldly, "if you ever... so much as glance his way... I will beat you to a bloody pulp, and you know I can, the only person who can stop me is already on my side," she said, pointing to Leon, "so don't even dare."

She strutted out of the room proudly, grabbing Leon's hand and ushering him into her room. Instantly Leon began to check her hand and face.

"That was awesome!!" Ash said enthusiastically, and Leon nodded to her happily, Ash pulled herself away from him, got a hi-potion from her 'Magical Satchel' and drank it. Her knuckles healed up, but the small wounds on them were still there, she wrapped them up with a cloth and continued on her merry way. She looked up to see Leon's tired eyes staring at her bed longingly.

"You can sleep there if you want, I'll go sleep in your room..." she went for the door but he stopped her.

"Well, you see... she lays off when you're around, so, you stay." Leon said firmly. She grinned to him, and pushed him to her bed.

"sleep!" she ordered, and as he laid down he glanced up at her to see her eyes sparkling mischievously, she sat down on the bed, he legs bent beneath her, the glint never fading, she leaned forward, but Leon was one step ahead, he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her down into a semi hug, he rolled over, and she was pinned beneath him. He rested his head beside hers and closed his eyes, "Leon no! Don't fall asleep on me!! Do you know how breast flattening that is?"

"They won't get flat..." Leon muttered, his eyes still closed.

"But they won't get bigger! Man, get off me!" Ash yelled, even though she knew her excuse was ridiculous.

"They're big enough..." he said tiredly.

"How'd you know?" Ash said, staring at him suspiciously, "did you go snooping around my underwear?"

"No!" Leon said, snapping his eyes open, he couldn't help but smirk at how close and how helpless she was at that moment. She raised her eyebrows at him, demanding an answer, "Ash, I'm a guy-"

"No, really?"

"I should notice these things-"

"Ew! That's so gross!"

"It's natural!"

"It's perverted!" Ash said, then gave a look of joy, "oh ma gawd! It's perverted! Congrats, Leon!" he closed his eyes, she was so strange and completely different, he loved that about her, "actually it makes sense, seeing as you're always checking me out..."

"Whatever makes you happy..." he muttered sleepily.

"Do you know what would make me happy?" Ash began, he gave her a grunt, she wondered if she should go perverted because she noticed that his whole body was pressing against hers, but chose to ask for what she currently wanted most.

"What?" Leon asked her absent mindedly.

"What I want," she began, then yelled, "is for you to get off of me!"

"Ah- now that I can't do..."

"What why?" she said in shock.

"you're just too comfortable," he said, smirking slyly, as he moved slightly, unfortunately for Ash, his lips were right against her neck, millimeters away from touching her tattoo. Ash saw his eyes open evilly, and felt his arm wrapping around her, holding her in place, he leaned forward towards her face this time. But before he 

could do anything, Ash's head moved away from him, but he edged forward, and then she moved away and he moved forward.

"You're so physical...that sounded so wrong..." Ash said, "It's kinda unfair that you get to toy with me like this when I can't..."

"But you get to toy with me too," Leon said, "you: verbally, me: ... physically, sort of."

"You got a point there," Ash said, then grew quiet, Leon closed his eyes, wishing for sleep. But sleep instantly escaped him when Ash forcefully rolled him over, laying on top, "phew, finally..." she said, "man you are one he-ea-vy dude."

"It's all in the muscles," he said, sleepiness vanishing, he noticed that Ash was having the time of her life, she was grinning insanely, "what're you- no! Don't!"

She had suddenly sat up, leg on each side; she slid down to a stop above his lap. She leaned forward, arms resting on each side of his head as her face grew closer.

"It's hard to resist..." she pulled away, biting her lip as her hands hovered over the rim of his pants.

"Ash... please! For Hyne's sake! Don't do it!!" he begged, his hands were pinned down as well, completely unmovable.

"But it's so... tempting..." her hands ran down his chest, past his stomach, taking hold of the weak straps holding his pants in place.

"Ash!" Leon yelled, he didn't want his to happen, why didn't she just let him sleep? Why did she have to be so perverted? So evilly perverted? So hard to resist?

She leaned in again, biting her lip as if holding back her urge to swoop down and plant a kiss on his lips. _hard to resist..._ she caressed the side of his face, thinking if she should do it or not. She loosened her hold on his arms, wondering what he would do. And oddly enough, it seemed like he didn't notice, his eyes glued to hers, waiting expectantly.

"Can I ask you something?" she said, "do you believe in the saying 'actions speak louder than words'?"

"Yes..." he nodded.

"I think I know what I would do if **you** told me you loved me..." Ash said, wondering if he would be interested, she half expected him to say a mockery, or a taunt, or even a 'congratulations, I'll be sure to tell the next guy', but a part of her, hoped and wished that he would say something that would show the possibility that he might feel the same way as she did.

"Oh?" Leon questioned, truly interested, he knew that by simply asking her about it that it might show how he felt, but he didn't care. He wondered if he had actually heard her emphasize the word 'you', "what's that?"

She didn't say anything, she stared at him; the look on her face showed him that she was having an internal battle. Then she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Her eyes opened as she leaned in, her lips touching his briefly. But when her consciousness and her doubt made her pull away, he leaned towards her and caught 

her lips with his. Ash's eyes widened momentarily in shock, but then they closed as she basked in the moment, leaning into the kiss.

He had taken a risk, taken a chance, one that he knew might go wrong, but he did it anyway, and it came out with excellent results, she had accepted him, she had accepted his feeling, and probably even felt it for him. She had always smiled invitingly, kindly, and happily to him, as if she would never reject him. He wondered if all of this was a dream, and he would wake up to see the dull ceiling of his room in Traverse Town. But it never ended, her lips still pressed tightly against his, his mind floating happily, as his heart fluttered in excitement.

She pulled away, grinning as expected. He smiled to her, his eyes boring into hers, checking for any signs of doubt or regret, but if they were there they were expertly concealed.

"Leon?" she said, and smiled in joy, "I just kissed you."

"I know," he said happily.

"It was great!" she said, grinning to him, then it weakened ever so slightly, "can I ask you something?"

"You just did,"

"Stop being such a smart aleck!" she said in mock anger, the two seemed high, "was that... kiss thing... true or not?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, his arms still wrapped fondly around her.

"Were you faking it? Or was it actually... er... true?" she asked, not knowing how to say it.

"I'm not sure," he said jokingly, but once Ash's face fell, he gave her another kiss, "actions speak louder than words, eh?"

He rolled over, pinned her under him, his lips came crashing down on hers, passionately yet softly, he managed to tell her he loved her.

"Geesh, I get it!" Ash said, once they pulled away, "You're one... needy guy!"

"Needy?" Leon mocked, "Look who's talking!"

"What? I didn't do anything!" Ash said innocently.

"Yeah, it's not like you were asking for it!" Leon mocked.

"I was not!" Ash said, holding back a smile, too high to be angry.

"Sure, sure," he said, lying down beside her. She rolled over to rest her head on his shoulder, and her hand held his tightly, as his free arm wrapped around her, "now stay still, I want to sleep."

"Oh! You're one pervy guy," Ash said shaking her head, then continued, "you know, whatever you're dreaming of you can do right now..."

"Shhh..." Leon closed his eyes, a small smile tugging at his lips, thinking that just by opening up to her a bit more, he was able to get her to sleep in his arms, he ran his fingers through her hair, receiving a smile from her, he was sure he loved her. He was happy that Rinoa was perfectly fine with it, and so were the others, but was she fine with it? He had to tell someone soon, he knew he couldn't tell Aerith and Yuffie because they wouldn't understand and because Yuffie would probably tell everyone about it, and so he resulted to telling Cloud.

He woke up the next day to see his clothes ready for him on the table. He heard the sound of running water and understood that Ash was taking a shower. He stood up and began pulling on his clothes, and as he did, he heard the water stop, and then a few moments of silence as he finished pulling on his clothes. Ash walked out the door and into the bedroom with only a towel wrapped around her, a small bundle of dirty clothes in her hand. He saw a bit of black fabric peeking from the side of the towel, and black straps going over her shoulders. She smiled up at him, as arm as always. She walked towards the bed, picking up a black skirt.

"mornin' Leon, no worries we didn't do anything," she said, then continued perversely, "sadly," as she pulled it on under the towel. Instinctively Leon looked away, she giggled lightly, "oh, how gentleman like..."

"I-" before he could say anything, a bright red light lit up the whole room, and a loud alarm sound began blaring.

"Shit!" Ash yelled, throwing on his jacket, her towel slid off, as she stuck her legs into her shoes, and ran out of the room. Leon bounded after her, they both knew something was going wrong, everyone else was in chaos, Leon and Ash tried to calm them down but to no avail.

They headed off into the cockpit, Ash immediately running for the instrument panel, the fuel bypass for engine eight sign was red, which meant that the fuel filter were clogged up and the fuel bypass was not working, Ash told Leon what she had to do, she grabbed a nearby flash light as a precaution. She threw open the access hatch then turned to Leon.

"I'll be right back, I just need to see if it's plugged in or not," Ash said seriously. She jumped down the hatch and ran through a tiny corridor and into a small dark room, as expected the lights were off, she switched on the flash light, searching for the initials 'F.B', she saw eight plugs and the last was unplugged, she immediately plugged it in, and ran back to the cockpit, "did it work?"

The two stared in anticipation at the little sign, and it quickly switched off, along with the blaring alarm and the blinding red light. Leon leaned forward and picked up the speaker, "this is the Pilot speaking, it was a minor problem, and we fixed it, nothing's wrong with the ship."

"You're incredible at making speeches.." Ash said sarcastically, shaking her head. Leon turned to her, about to make a witty comment when both of them noticed that she had not zipped up the jacket right, meaning a lot of what wasn't supposed to show was showing, Ash gasped and went to zip it, but for some reason it was stuck, she yanked the whole jacket up so that it would no longer show anything, "you can forget about trying to help me with this..."

"c'mon, I'm not a pervert, that's you..." Leon said, sitting down in his chair. Ash went silent for a moment; she looked down at herself and was not at all pleased with how showing the jacket currently was.

"I just hope it doesn't get stuck completely," Ash said, walking out of the cockpit and to her room. on the way she began tugging at the jacket, trying to make it zip up, but nothing worked. She entered her room, slamming the door shut with her foot. She sat down, and began hoping that it will not get stuck as she opened it.

"DAMN IT!!" Leon heard her yell as he stood outside her door, "STUPID ZIPPER!!" Then he heard things fall and then she slammed into a couple of things, Leon couldn't help but laugh, "LET GO OF ME!! DAMN IT!! YOU'RE SO CLINGY!!" he laughed all out, "AW, MAN! I DOWANNA ASK LEON TO HELP ME!! STUPID ZIPPER!!"

"Any luck?" he said, as he knocked lightly on the door, and opened it.

"YOU ALREADY KNOW! I know you've been standing outside my door laughing!!" Ash said, and he continued to laugh as he saw her. her legs were holding her up awkwardly, both hands tugging at the zipper, her hair flying everywhere, and one hell of a funny expression of anger on her face, "you done yet?" she asked coldly, running a hand through her hair. Leon looked up at her, and watched her as she ran her hand through her hair, she looked startlingly good, her black hair, as expected, contrasted magnificently with the fur, her skirt's length was just right, not too short and not too long, the way her long legs held her up cutely- "quit checking me out Leon!"

"er... sorry?" Leon said, blushing slightly. Ash grinned big, and sighed.

"Leon," Ash began, _I'm so gonna regret this I know my perverseness won't hold back..._ she sighed again, "Leon, can you help me with this?"

He hesitated slightly, then sighed as he said, "do not give any perverted comments!"

"I'll try," she said, giving him a small smile. Leon walked forward, his hands hesitated as his throat seemed dry, and he cleared it, as he took hold of the zipper, "open it,"

"What?" Leon exclaimed, pulling back, "no! I don't want to-"

"Yeah, you do!" Ash said jokingly, then sighed, "suck it up, I'm the one...getting... undressed?"

"..." Leon sighed again, "fine..."

He took hold of the zipper, and it was stuck, he yanked it up and it moved a bit, then he yanked it down and it opened up a little. He hesitated again.

"Leon! Just hurry up!!" Ash said urgently.

"I really don't want to see-" Leon began, but Ash raised her eyebrows at him, "no it's not that I don't want to, I do but-" her eyebrows went higher, "but I would never actually want to try to-" she frowned, "I would but I don't want you to-" and she began to laugh hysterically.

"Calm down Leon," Ash said, and giggled lightly, "you're so adorable..."

"Excuse me? That's kinda demeaning..."

"Aw, c'mon, it's a compliment!"

"Sure, whatever..." Leon said, crossing his hands over his chest and averting his eyes in mock anger.

"Well, you are! Aside from being hott and se- yeah, I'm not going to ramble about you," Ash said, looking away.

"Oh, why not? It's really fun to watch," Leon protested, and instantly regretted it, Ash 'accidentally' tackled him to the ground with a big grin on her face.

"You mean... it's 'adorable'?" Ash asked him, her grin larger.

"Yeah, I guess..." Leon muttered, Ash's grin widened and her eyes sparkled.

"That is one indirect compliment..." she said shaking her head, and then she pushed herself up, still sitting on him.

"You really like his don't you?" Leon questioned her.

"What? Sitting on you?" she said, giving him a mischievous smirk, then leaning down, her hands brushing over his chest and pulling to a stop beneath his collar bone, she leaned forward, taking Leon off guard as she gave him a soft kiss, "yeah I do! I love to see you squirm!"

"..." Leon sighed heavily, his eyes shut tight.

"Okay, so could you...?" Ash asked him. he hesitantly took hold of the zipper, he pulled it down, every now and then he had to pull it up then down, then she muttered absent mindedly, "thank Hyne Yuffie and the others aren't here..."

"Yeah..." he said, still yanking at the zipper, it must have been stuck because it had not been in use for a while.

"It would be awkward if That Girl-" suddenly the door was thrown open, and in marched a bruised That Girl, "what a coinky-dinky..."

That Girl froze in place at the sight, Ash was sitting on top of Leon who was focused on, what looked like taking off Ash's shirt, while Ash's hands rested on his chest, and most of her front part was showing. Jealousy burned through her as tears began to fall from her eyes and she ran out of the room.

Ash immediately burst into a fit of laughter, but soon enough it quieted down as she noticed that Leon's eyes were shut tight and his cheeks were scarlet.

"Breath, man, breath..." Ash muttered, she took hold of the jacket's rim and stood up, she glanced back at Leon, whose eyes were still shut tight, she grabbed a his white shirt- the one she borrowed, and pulled it on, throwing his jacket on top, "no seriously..."

She walked towards him, and kneeled beside him. She bit her lip as she held back her laughter; it was 'adorable' that he was blushing madly. She shook his shoulders.

"Leon? C'mon! Snap out of it!" Ash yelled. Shaking his shoulders vigorously, then she resulted to the only choice she had, "oh ma gawd! CPR!"

"NO!" Leon yelled, a look of fright on his face, as he shot up, "no more! I've had enough to last me a decade!!"

"You're so adorable..." Ash muttered with a little giggle, as Leon sighed in anguish.

"So demeaning..." he muttered sadly. Ash leaned forward and gave him a little kiss on the cheek, and again, he blushed scarlet.

"You sure blush a lot…" Ash said jokingly, shaking her head, "for a guy who's uptight and 'yes, I am mega strong and hott… FEAR ME!', I mean really…"

"Look who's talking, for a girl who has that cute innocent face you sure are perverted," Leon retorted, pushing himself up on the elbows to look at her.

"Did you just call me cute?" Ash said, immediately Leon's face fell, the girl seemed to concentrate on whatever she wanted to hear and forgot the rest, "now, that is a compliment/understatement…"

"It slipped..." Leon sighed darkly, but Ash's grin and sparkly eyes were overpowering.

"Whatever, honey bunny," Ash said slyly, Leon raised an eyebrow, "okay fine, I'll settle for 'Love' and 'Lion-Boy'…"

"At least it isn't Puberty-Boy…" Leon muttered quietly to himself, doing the ol' hand-face move.

"Puberty-Boy?" Ash said incredulously, and instantly began laughing, keeling over and slamming into Leon, who sighed in anguish, and leaned back, then after Ash finished laughing, she said, "who? What? Why?"

"Seifer, the guy who gave me this," Leon answered her first question, pointing to the scar on his face.

"Oh yeah, the dude who 'cheated on you'..." Ash said with a light chuckle, Leon rolled his eyes and continued.

"he gave me that name, because I mentioned seeing a girl -who turned out to be Ellone, the girl with the power to show you the past- in the Infirmary in front of him, so as usual he tried to annoy me by giving me that name," Leon muttered, "I wonder what happened to him…"

"Probably alive somewhere…" Ash said, trying to lift up his spirits. they headed towards the cockpit as they chatted, "Leon? You didn't tell me what your friends were like… who's Zell?"

"well, Zell was my best friend, and he was a brawler," Leon began, "blond hair, blue eyes and a tattoo on the side of his face," he gave a small sad smile, "he was always there to back you up, he was really enthusiastic, and very short tempered," then he chuckled lightly, "and whenever he messed up he would be angry at himself for a long while, until someone comforts him, or tells him it wasn't his fault,"

"I like him!" Ash said happily.

"Yeah, I bet you two would hit it off quickly, plus Selphie… and Irvine!" Leon said, sitting down in his seat, a bittersweet look on his face, "Selphie was really cheerful, stubborn, and optimistic," he said, as Ash was about to ask him who she was, "she had a thing for organizing parties, and she had this need for speed," he chuckled lightly at the memory of her, "we all dreaded to sit in the car if she drove it."

"And Irvine?" Ash asked, actually interested.

"he was Selphie's boyfriend, and he was a real pervert," Leon said, looking up at Ash with a smirk as she giggled lightly, "but unlike you, he had a knack for actually doing the things he said," then he laughed again, "one time, Selphie organized a little concert for me," Leon said with a smile, "because of 'all the hard work I've done'…"

"How sweet of her!"

"yeah, Quistis, Selphie, Zell, and Irvine did the music, while Rinoa did the talking, I think it's because they thought she was the only one able to soften me up…" he said, a small smile on his face as he glanced at Ash, _she's not the only one…_ he thought, Ash noticed this and gave a light giggle. then he continued, "Irvine told me that he had put a landmark to where we were supposed to sit… I should've known it was something 'else' because it was Irvine…"

"What did'e do?" Ash said, looking at Leon with raised eyebrows.

"An… 'inappropriate' magazine," Leon answered, and as expected, Ash laughed hysterically, and he joined her, then continued, "but he was a softy under it all, when we were supposed to assassinate the sorceress he was the sniper, and he cracked under the pressure…" Ash gave him a sweet smile, "Quistis was like a prodigy, smart, strong and beautiful,"

"Well, she must be really beautiful for you to admit it," Ash said with a grin.

"At the age of fifteen she became a SeeD, and when she was eighteen she was already an instructor, my instructor actually…" he said with a smile, "Rinoa was really stubborn, and she wanted to free her country, she had this little group of three called 'Timber Owls', and she was their leader. She was daughter of a General, so they called her 'Princess', and she really was one," he said with a fond smile, "she read a lot of books; you could always find her in the library. She was really caring, and couldn't fight alone, she needed her friends next to her at all times."

"And Squall?" Ash asked him, Leon's ears perked up at the sound of his own name being said by her. he looked at her in confusion, and she gave him an encouraging sweet smile, "okay then, I'll guess…" she took a deep breath and concentrated, her eyes scanned the black space before her, "cold loner," Leon nodded, "great leader, distant, caring under all the layers and shields, and absolutely awesome!" she said giving him a grin, then continued even though she could see he was embarrassed, she gave him a giggle, "I think I'll like him,"

"I doubt that…"

"Why? Because he's distant and closed off?" Ash questioned, "dude, I opened him up!"

"True, but that doesn't mean you would've liked me then…"

"Yes it does, c'mon try me…" Ash said, then glanced at him with a smile, "c'mon!"

"…" Leon contemplated; he wondered if he'd get too comfortable and sink back to what he was, he feared that if he actually did act like his old self that she might pull away from him, "…"

"Oh c'mon! What're you so afraid of?" Ash questioned happily.

"Fine…"

"Thank you," Ash said, she glanced at him, and his eyes were closed, and he was leaning back, suddenly his eyes snapped open, he leaned forward, took hold of the yoke, and straightened up. He had this serious look on his face, eyebrows furrowed, lips pursed and down in a frown, and he seemed to be glaring at the view before him, "er... hello?"

"..." he nodded silently, glancing at all the instruments and gadgets.

"What's your name?" Ash asked him, giving him a smile that he brushed off.

"Squall Leonhart." He said coldly, Ash blinked repeatedly, his tone of voice was different, his reactions were different, Ash almost thought she was talking with a completely different person, as if Leon was bi polar.

"I'm Ashley, nice to meet you," she said with a smile, but all 'Squall' did was continue with his business. Ash frowned, he was acting so coldly towards her, then she broke out a smile, she had to prove him wrong. She glanced at Squall who had this look on his face as if he thought she was mad, she raised an eyebrow questioningly and he simply shook his head.

"..."

"I never knew you could say '...', you're one talented man," Ash said sarcastically.

"..." still he said nothing, his expression said nothing, his body language was nothing. But Ash natural glanced at his eyes, and you could see annoyance and a well hidden amusement, probably from her Leon.

"Heartless..." Ash muttered, staring at a couple that popped up from nowhere, but before she could even press a single button, Squall had already annihilated them. Ash gave a proud grin, as if she was proud of him, "I see you found out what those buttons do..."

"I installed them," he answered monotonously.

"Wow," Ash commented, impressed, "so, Squall," she began, "what do you do?"

"I'm a SeeD."

"Really? I want to become one, but a friend of mine told me I'm not good enough," Ash muttered sadly, "I heard they had a great Commander, is that true?"

"I wouldn't know..." he muttered monotonously, she tilted her head to the left slightly in confusion, and then he continued with a faint hint of a proud smirk, "I am the Commander."

"Really?" Ash asked even though she already knew. She switched on the auto pilot and turned to him, "what weapon do you use?"

"Gunblade." He answered quietly, still staring intently at the screen, though he removed his hands from their place on the yoke.

"I heard those were really hard to use, and really rare," Ash commented, Squall nodded silently in agreement, "you must be one of the few SeeDs who use a Gunblade."

"Yes," Squall agreed, his arms crossing his chest.

"Does it have a name?" Ash asked him, leaning forward to look at his pendant.

"Yes, Griever."

"May I...?" Ash said, and he hesitated but he let her go for it in the end, she took hold of the pendant, going over the lines with her finger, then she turned it over, _Sleeping Lion Heart_ it read, she gave him a smile as she let go of it, "how old are you Squall?"

"Nineteen," he answered simply, and for the first time looked her in the eye, she gave him a small smile, nineteen; the last time he used that name.

"Can I ask you some questions?" Ash said, and he nodded after a while of thinking, "don't worry, they won't be too private or anything... what's your favorite type of chocolate?"

"..." he tilted his head to the right slightly, "dark... or minty..."

"Knew it," Ash said, then leaned back, "suits you. What's your favorite type of car?"

"Lamborghini."

"Color?"

"Black, grey and... blue."

"Obviously," pointing to his clothes, "drink?"

"Black coffee."

"Music?"

He frowned, "not sure..."

"Book?"

"The Legendary Beast."

"Place?"

"Balamb Garden."

"And favorite places there?"

"The Quad and my room."

"What's your favorite word?" Ash asked him. And he raised an eyebrow, wondering when she will stop asking him questions, "c'mon! Don't worry, I'm gonna wrap it up soon..."

"Whatever..." he muttered, turning to the screen. He heard her giggle; he had just unintentionally answered her question.

"I like you..." Ash said absent mindedly, she saw him give her a questioning look but all she did was grin, he shook his head and continued to stare at the view, "Squall?"

"...?"

"Oh wow! You really are talented at this..." commenting at his choice of 'words'.

"..."

"Amazing!"

"..."

"Oh ma gawd!"

"."

"No way!"

"??"

"you're unbelievable!"

"!"

"Le gasp!"

". . ."

A Giggle from Ash.

A stare from Squall.

Another giggle from Ash.

A glare from Squall.

A loud laugh from Ash.

An intense glare from Squall.

An intense glare from Ash, followed by a giggle.

"Why are you laughing?" Squall asked her coldly, "you know what, I don't want to know..."

He stood up and left the room, Ash immediately followed him, giggling hysterically.

"..." Squall sighed sadly, doing the old pinching bridge of nose in annoyance, at which Ash began to laugh out loud hysterically. They reached his room, and Ash still laughed.

"Oh no!!" she laughed some more, "I can't stop!" she laughed again, "Ow! My stomach hurts!" and she still laughed, "I think- ahahahahahaha- someone -hehehehehe- put a spe-hehehehehehehe-ll on me –heehehehe..."

Then she slowed it down to quiet giggles and chuckle, then finally it stopped. Her face was red, and tears of joy were coming out of her eyes.

"Sorry, I couldn't stop myself; you're just so... adorable!" Ash said, grinning. Squall stared at her incredulously.

"What is wrong with you?" he questioned her.

"I- wait, do you want my reaction to be hyper-sensitive or just plain or my reaction?" Ash asked him seriously.

"I- what?-plain? I guess..." the same old look on his face.

"Okay..." she cleared her throat, "nothing's wrong with- ya know what? I'll go with my reaction because it's more or less not dull..." she cleared her throat again, crossed her arms over her chest, and said, "yeah, like whatever, man, live with it! You're blessed to be even able to see me like this!"

"Blessed to see you acting crazy?" Squall asked her.

"Why do you hate me so much?" Ash asked him. Not noticing that the sparkle in his eyes returned, meaning he was back to being Leon, she didn't even notice the change of tones.

"Ash, I don't-"

"Yeah you do-"

"Ash!" Leon yelled slightly, taking hold of her shoulders, she snapped out of it, staring at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You're touching me..." Ash said, "Stop touching me..." Ash said with the same old fun sparkle in her eyes. She slapped his hands away as she said, "no touchy, man!"

"..."

"Oi! Don't turn all Squally on me!" Ash said, pointing a threatening at him.

"Told you that you wouldn't like him..." he muttered darkly.

"Who said I didn't like him?" Ash questioned, and then she threw an arm around Leon's shoulder and began in a mock lecture, "see I think he's awesome, but he's not the Lion-boy I like..."

"And who's that?" Leon said with a smirk, instantly, Ash pulled out a kid from nowhere and pointed to him.

"Georgey McGeorgenson!" Ash said with a grin as Leon's face fell.

"Cruel..."

"Yeah, whatever..." Ash said, then turned to the kid standing next to her, "beat it boyo!"

"Child abuse," Leon muttered.

"Leon, are we like a …couple now or something?" Ash asked, her eyes looking away from him.

He wondered how to respond, then he remembered that she believed in thw whole 'actions speak louder than words', so he chose to follow that for once. He walked towards her, pulling her towards him as he kissed her. Ash felt like she was in heaven, not her special 'Chocolate Heaven: Where Everything Is Made Of Chocolate', but the actually body floating, heart racing, mind boggling heaven.

"I'll take that as a yes," Ash said with a grin once they pulled away. They walked off to the cockpit together had in hand.

Once there Ash switched off the auto pilot and began her work on landing in Hollow Bastion. A while later, when the passengers were getting out to meet Aerith and Cloud, who lead the group to their houses, Ash walked out to go meet her friends, then what Rinoa told him rung in his head, _start taking chances, _what became his motto, and so he did, however small, he moved forward, took her hand in his and walked beside her, he saw her smile warmly out of the corner of his eye.

_I gotta tell Cloud… I can't hold this in…_ The two thought to themselves.

"giggles" I like this chapter, I thought it was too soon... but... Zixen told me to leave it here... and this is like a 'I listen to you, man, you should like me now' kind of thing... so blame her if you

* * *

dont like it!! :D she's the dudette who calls ME McPervy... "innocent look" and I dont know why!

anyway!! REVIEW PEEPS!!


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter fourteen: (oh mah gahawd!!)**

"Cloud?" Leon called as the blond turned to him. They were all sitting in the living room, Yuffie and Aerith busily working on the Masquerade Ball, Ash sat down next to Leon as usual, secretly holding his hand, Cid was working on his computer, Merlin was waving his wand about at a card, while Cloud sat down on a coach on Ash's other side. Leon continued, "I need to tell you something," he glanced at Ash meaningfully, who was busy staring at Merlin with a 'what the hell are you doing' look on her face, "privately…"

Instantly Ash snapped out of her staring and looked from Leon to Cloud in a perverted suspicion.

"Ooh… '**private**' huh?" Ash said, giving the two a mischievous wink, "well, have fun you two…"

"McPervy…" Cloud muttered shaking his head.

"Cloudy McCloud-Cloud…" Ash retorted.

"Mop head!"

"Cookie addict!" Ash pointed accusingly.

"Not my fault they taste so good…" Cloud muttered sadly.

"True, that's actually my fault," Ash admitted. She glanced at Leon who was leaning back in his seat, his eyes closed, and lips forming a smile, she gave his hand a squeeze and instantly he turned to her, giving her a smile, which she returned, suddenly she asked, "Merlin… what exactly are you doing??"

"Oh yeah!" Aerith suddenly said, turning to Merlin, "did you manage to do it?"

"Almost!" Merlin said, as he huffed and puffed, muttering random words and swishing his wand about.

"yyeah… so Cloud," Ash began turning to the blond, "y'want yer cookies?" Cloud nodded vigorously, "fine, let's go make some… actually, I'll be making them while you two," pointing at Leon and Cloud, "will entertain me."

"She says it like she's sure of it," Cloud muttered to Leon as Ash stood up and headed towards the kitchen.

"That's because it's definite…" Leon muttered as he stood up to follow her, a small smile on his face. The two entered the kitchen to find Ash taking out random objects, a thing that looked like whisk, a giant bowl, a couple of spoons, among other things 

that Leon did not notice. He was busy watching Ash as she made funny expressions while making the cookies.

"Leon, you wanted to talk to me about something?" Cloud whispered to Leon as the two watched Ash from their places on the table.

"Oh, yeah- Ash?" Leon began, Ash, looked up brushing a hair away with her flour covered hand, which left a mark on her cheek, she sighed as it fell out of place again, and Leon chuckled at the sight, "I need to tell Cloud something, so we'll be right back."

Ash pouted, "What are you hiding from me?"

"Nothing, love," he said with a smile, and then he turned to Cloud and nodded. Cloud instantly got up and left the room.

"I'll be in the Borough." Cloud said as he walked out.

"Here," Leon walked forward; he took hold of the strand of hair, and pulled it back behind her ear. His hand slid slightly, caressing her face as she leaned into it, "I'll never hide anything from you…"

"Aw, how sweet…" Ash said jokingly, leaning in for a light peck on the lips.

"I'll be back!!" Leon yelled as he walked out. He trailed around a bit, fighting a couple of Heartless on the way, he knew Cloud wouldn't have immediately went for the Borough so he took his time, in the end he reached the Borough, "Cloud, Ash and I are-"

"Let me guess, you finally did it?" Cloud asked him, a knowing smirk on his face. Leon frowned, for a moment his brain began to think like Ash, _it? What does he mean by it? It as in 'it' it? _That's what Ash would think, but Leon reasoned with himself that Cloud would never think like that, then again…

"What do you mean?" Leon said suspiciously, frowning at his friend, "anyway, Ash and I are-"

"Together!" Ash said, as she bounded into the Borough, to stand next to Cloud, then she continued in a fake high pitched one, " forever and ever!!"

"Finally," Cloud snorted.

"Whatchoo mean?" Ash asked quizzically.

"We all know that you two like each other, we all notice how you talk about each other, and we all notice how you look at each other… plus the fact that you're always together," Cloud said monotonously, as if it was an obvious fact. Leon seemed 

slightly taken aback at how obvious it was, but Ash simply shrugged and continued to bounce up and down until Cloud gave her a look, "why are you so-"

"Bouncy?" she said, giving him a big grin, "I ate chocolate!!"

"Damn," Cloud muttered under his breath, they all knew how scary she became when she ate chocolate, by scary it means 'hyper active, super happy, and a ball of joy' scary, and whenever she drank something like AMP or Redbull or anything that gives you energy, the thought made Cloud shiver.

"Oh! Which reminds me!" Ash said, her bouncing pulling to a stop, "the cookies are being cooked in the cookie maker, and the cookie watcher is watching the cookies as they cook."

"…" both Cloud and Leon stared at Ash, Leon gave a light chuckle and Cloud sighed in exasperation, a hint of an amused smile could be seen on his face.

"Well, cookie master, how 'bout we go cook some other cookies to be cooked, like the other cookies that our cookie addicted friend here can enjoy their cookie goodness? Umm... cookie?" Leon muttered, coughing nervously as Ash and Cloud stared at him in shock.

"Don't ever do that again!" Cloud said, a look of fright on his face.

"So scary…" Ash said, immediately the two burst into a fit of laughter at the annoyed yet disappointed look on Leon's face, "aw, I'm rubbing off on you..."

"Yeah, I'm beginning to think like you too," Leon added, smiling down at her.

"Now that… is scary!" Ash said jokingly.

"You're one to talk, you just ate chocolate!!" Leon retorted.

"Yes, but it's expected of me to be scary at such times," Ash said with a grin.

"Well I get to be scary seeing as I spend so much time with you!"

"Yeah, whatever, Love." Ash said carelessly as she grinned at his shocked look, "fine, you get to be scary too, just not as frequent as I can."

"On that we agree," Leon said, "it is tiresome to be as… hyper as you."

"Apparently," Cloud commented.

"Shut up, Cloudy," Ash muttered.

"Shut up? Shut up?" Cloud said in mock anger.

"Ooh look at that, you got a catch phrase!" Ash commented jokingly.

"Shut up!" Cloud said coldly, instantly Ash laughed and Leon chuckled silently, "you two are annoying…"

"Just because I got what you've always wanted, doesn't mean you get to be a hater…" Ash commented.

"I never said I want-"

"We all know you want me, Cloud…" Leon said perversely.

"What?" Cloud said loudly in shock.

"c'mon, just admit it… you're jealous," Ash said in mock exasperation.

"I don't-"

"Denial, that's proof." Leon pointed, stifling back a laugh as Ash shook beside him.

"You two don't get to team up on me!" Cloud said angrily, a shot of crimson across his cheeks.

"Look at that, he's blushing!!" Ash said.

"How adorable!" Leon said, mimicking Ash's behavior whenever he blushed.

"Stop it you two!" Cloud ordered, more like growled.

"Stop what Cloudy? We are just trying to get you on the way of-"

"Ash! Shut up!" Cloud yelled.

"You don't have to be so spiteful Cloud, be nice." Leon said biting his lip as he threw an arm around Ash's shoulders possessively.

"Why should I?" Cloud retorted.

"'cause she's my girl." Leon replied quietly, "and you don't get to be rude to her."

"Aw, how cute, Leon's tying to be overprotective…" Ash said jokingly.

"You can't blame a guy for trying," Leon said sadly, Ash giggled lightly, and turned to Cloud.

"Blondie, go eat your cookies!" Ash commanded, pointing at Cloud with one hand on her hip.

"Fine," Cloud muttered grouchily.

"Hey! You should be thankful I made them!" Ash yelled after him as he sprinted off in the direction of said cookies.

"That was fun!" Leon announced, giving Ash a smile, and as per usual, she returned it. The two stood there staring at the view.

"You know, this isn't such a great view…" Ash said, Leon quirked an eyebrow then laughed.

"Blunt much?" Leon commented with a smile. Ash shrugged her shoulders, took his hand and began to dance with him. Even though there was no music, no reason and no purpose, the two danced lightly.

"So, we have some work to do," Ash said, "we gotta get you a costume and a mask, plus fangs…"

"I think you'd look great in a dress…" Leon commented absent mindedly.

"Ha! As if! The words 'Ash' and 'dress' will never be in the same sentence unless it's 'and the dress burned to ash'…" Ash said darkly.

"If I have to wear a suit, a costume, a mask, and get stripped of my Gunblade, then you have to wear a dress," Leon told her.

"NEVER!!" Ash yelled, as if wearing a dress could kill her.

"Stop being so picky." Leon ordered.

"I'm not being picky, this is one of the human rights! Freedom of thought… or whatever, the point is… I'm not picky!" Ash said, then continued jokingly, "I mean dude, I'm dating you… I'm NOT picky…"

Instantly all signs of happiness in Leon's face faded away, his smile vanished, the sparkle in his eyes died, what did she mean by that? At once, Ash noticed the error; Leon hadn't noticed her joking tone, because she did not give him a hint that she was joking. He pulled away from her, thinking she might have been having second thoughts about choosing him.

"w-what do you mean?" he asked her, his eyes looked pained and hopeless, the light gone from his face and heart.

"Leon… you shouldn't take everything I say seriously, I was only joking," Ash said, giving him a smile, she reached forward to take hold of his hand but he pulled away. Shocked, Ash's hand fell limply at her side.

"Are you sure?" Leon asked, the same cold aura around him. Ash frowned at him, did he doubt her love for him? Did he not believe her? Ash had to tell him she loved him or else he would walk away, but Ash was a moment too late, a second sooner and he would've been smiling again, but he walked away, leaving Ash to eat at herself. Why hadn't she told him? Why wouldn't her pride just suck it up? Why was she so weak? So self absorbed? So… pathetic?

She willed herself to move, but no strength came to her, as if all her strength and power had gone with him.

"Leon," Ash muttered sadly. She wondered if she'd ever be able to tell him, she wondered if he'll ever forgive her and if he will stay angry at her. She wondered if he stayed angry with her, what would happen? She would miss his smile, his laugh, his attempts at making her blush, his presence, his voice, and the feel of his hand in hers and his lips on hers. She will miss him. She doubted she'd manage to handle it.

* * *

The door slammed open suddenly, interrupting Cloud's thoughts. He looked at the culprit to see Leon bounding up the stairs angrily, he wondered what was wrong, Ash would've probably said something wrong and Leon would've taken her seriously. That's what happens when two people are completely opposite, he was serious and she was lighthearted, he was calm and she was hyper, he was depressed and she was joyful, he was vigilant and she was happy-go-lucky, he was dark and she was light, perfect opposites, suiting each other entirely, yet still having some issues, he knew they would sort it out in the end, Ash's heart wouldn't handle it and nor would he.

He regained his train of thoughts, remembering that he was about to ask Aerith something.

"Aerith?"

"Hmm? Oh hey, Cloud!" Aerith said, turning to him with a smile, she had just finished pulling out Ash's cookies.

"I need to ask you something," he began, Aerith nodded to him to continue, "when you were in the lifestream," Aerith turned to him, a serious look on her face, "was Zack there with you?"

"I knew you were going to ask me about him sometime," Aerith said, sighing sadly, "well you see, when we were in the lifestream, the Goddess Minerva knew what was coming, so she began to send out help for the humans, she sent back Genesis, 

Sephiroth, Angeal, everyone who was strong enough to help, but she would send them somewhere their old friends and families would never meet them, Sephiroth was sent to one of those places we never knew of, Genesis was returned to his brother, yet he promised not to make an appearance too big, Angeal was sent far away from ShinRa and all SOLDIERs," Aerith said, mentioning Zack's old friends, "Zack was sent along with Angeal to where Ash was, to board the Coraya, Angeal was the one who came up with the idea of the ship in the first place while Zack mentioned it in front of one of the big bosses."

"You mean…" Cloud began, a thrill of excitement and joy filled him, "he's alive??"

"Yes, but you're gonna have to make sure if the Zack Ash was friends with is our Zack or not," Aerith said, turning to the cookies and handing him one. She walked out of the kitchen and went up the stairs, "I wonder what's up with Leon…"

"It's best if we leave him alone…" Cloud commented. His brain buzzing with ideas, hopes and possibilities, "Zack…"

Suddenly the main door burst open, and in stepped Ash. She looked frantically around the place, until Cloud pointed up to her, mouthing the words 'Leon's upstairs'. She nodded thankfully to him and ran towards Leon's room.

"Leon?" Ash called, knocking lightly on the door. No response, "Leon please let me in," she twisted the door knob, but no such luck, "Leon, I'm sorry but I was caught off guard!" she knocked a bit more, "Leon… please…"

She heard the click of a lock, and she immediately threw open the door. Her arms instinctively wrapped around his neck. He just stood there, staring down at her in shock and mild disappointment. She wondered if he began to hate her now, if he already refused her.

"Leon," Ash pleaded, her voice alone telling him what he wanted to hear but his brain nullified it all, "Leon, I'm really sorry, but I was caught off guard, I didn't think you didn't believe that I… Leon please, I'd never lie to you!"

He shrugged her arms off, pulling away. He did not look at her, he simply glared viscously at the floor.

"You never said anything for me to think you were lying…" Leon muttered darkly, his voice as cold as his actions. His hands forming fists as his glare intensified, it slowly lifted from the floor as he turned it on to her; she flinched. He saw her crying as if he had actually hurt her, her tears sparkled as the light hit them. He wanted to hold her to tell her everything was alright, but it wasn't, she had been lying to him the whole time, acting as if she loved him when she did not.

He walked down stairs, sure that by doing that he was ripping out his wounded heart and stomping on it.

* * *

"So, dudes and dudettes- and Cid," Yuffie began, Ash gave a faint smile, "the Ball will be held-"

"On November 24th, which is-" Aerith continued.

"Tomorrow! We hope it won't start raining that day, anyway,-"

"We need everyone's help and seeing as the sun's still up-"

"We want you guys," Yuffie began, pointing to Cloud, Ash and Leon, "to help us-"

"Deliver the cards to the people!" Aerith finished off.

"I'm sorry…" Ash began, everyone had noticed how red her eyes were, and how her voice seemed weak, and how she was acting different as if she had the life sucked out of her, "but I can't help you guys, I'm… really… tired."

"It's okay Ash! We'll cover for you," Yuffie said happily. Everyone noticed Ash's eyes brim with tears as she glanced at Leon, who was glaring viciously at the ground.

"I'm… sorry, but I need to-" Ash began, standing up, then suddenly she broke out in a run, heading out of the house and into the cold air of winter. She ran towards her sanctuary, the cliff she always stood on, her tears streaming down her face. Leon had not talked to her since the day before. Her heart was broken, her body weak with fatigue, her eyes sore from crying, and her mind dead from all the thinking. She stood there, letting the cold air sooth her. She had been there for a while, and the cold was starting to sink into her bones, as warm as she was, she was too weak now to hold the cold off.

* * *

"SQUALL LEONHART!" Aerith yelled angrily at the man, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" he flinched slightly, so much force from such a soft person, "I know it's your fault, so what have you done to make the happiest person so… UNHAPPY??"

"nothing…" he replied coldly, he deserved getting yelled at, he knew what he was doing was wrong, and it hurt him so bad but he wanted her to understand how much pain he felt when she couldn't tell him the truth about how she felt.

"AM I SUPPOSED TO BELIEVE THAT?" Aerith yelled, her face red with anger, "HOW COULD YOU? SHE'S KIND AND THOUGHTFUL, HAPPY AND CARING AND ALL YOU DO TO REPAY HER IS TO MAKE HER FEEL LIKE THIS??"

"…" he did not respond, he wanted her to yell at him, but nothing could yell at him as painfully as his heart, body and mind, they killed him every time he thought of her, 

every time he smelled her sweet scent, every time he saw her, every time he heard her, and he deserved it.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU??" Aerith yelled loudly, Cid and Merlin had already gone home, Yuffie was out shopping with a friend, and Cloud was waiting patiently next to a window. They had nothing to worry about; Leon had nothing to worry about- other than **her**, the only person capable of making him feel so guilty, so miserable, so depressed and lonely. Every time he saw something, he liked it and he felt as if it was second best, everything was now second best now that she wasn't there to keep him warm, keep him safe from the Darkness's clutches, and keep him happy.

Aerith continued to yell at him until Cloud interrupted her.

"Aerith, that's enough," Cloud said commandingly, "the man is already in pain, there is no need to rub it in."

"Fine…" Aerith sighed, marching up the stairs and into her room.

"Follow me," Cloud said, picking up a bunch of invitations as he exited the house. The two walked around town, handing out cards to the people passing by. Cloud waited silently for his friend to speak, and soon enough he began.

"I deserve it…" Leon began, "I deserve being yelled at because of what I've done to her."

"What happened?" Cloud asked.

"when you left, we were talking about the ball, and I told her she should stop being picky, and one thing led to another, she said 'I'm not picky, I settled for you, didn't I?' or something like it," Leon said, he sighed as he continued, realizing for the umpteenth time that he was a fool, "I knew she was joking, but a part of me believed it, a part of me doubted she actually... loved me."

"Why?"

"I think it's because…" he began, averting his eyes as he noticed how lame his next words would sound, "I didn't think I deserved her…"

"Leon, she loves you, she'd never think you don't deserve her," Cloud attempted to reason with him, "she loves you Leon, so stop mopping around and doubting yourself…"

"She does?" Leon questioned, perking up a bit at the thought.

"If she didn't love you then she wouldn't be crying right now," Cloud muttered matter-of-factly, handing five invitations to five people. He turned to look at Leon 

but his friend was not there, he saw him running down the stairs of the market place.

Leon found Ash standing on her favorite cliff, he noticed that her two wolves jumped off as soon as he approached.

"What do you want…?" Ash asked, sadness seeping into her voice. He covered her shoulders with her favorite jacket. She was standing there, her eyes empty her lips cracked and her face wet from tears. She wiped them away as he stood next to her.

"I wanted to apologies," Leon began, she did not respond. She pulled on the jacket her arms shooting into it, she sighed silently in content at the warmth, "I'm sorry I was such an ass, I'm sorry that I believed you when you said-"

"Do you know," Ash began, turning to him slightly, her arms crossed her chest, "how much paint you put me through?"

"I'm-"

"How much agony prevented me from sleeping at night?"

"Ash, I-"

"It's so much that right now," Ash bit her lip, "I have this urge to punch you senseless…"

"Look, I-"

"Why? Leon, why did you believe it?" Ash asked him.

"I don't kno-"

"Why?" she asked coldly, "let me guess, it would be one of those stupid idiotic reasons that people who over analyze would think of, right?"

"I really-" she was beginning to scare him.

"I'll start with the lamest… it's not you it's me' or… whatever it is?"

"No-" he saw she had this angry psychotic look on her face.

"No? Okay, how about uh… 'I don't deserve you'?" a look of guilt appeared on Leon's face, "no, no, don't tell me that's it… that would be so… so…"

"Stupid?"

"MORONIC!!" Ash yelled, her fingers running through her hair as she paced around the place, "stupid idiot… I mean, really? Really Leon? Ugh…" she growled in anger, "of all things…" she shook her head, then turned to him, "why did you believe it Leon?"

"Because I didn't think I deserved you…" Leon said shamefully, he hoped with all his heart that she would actually punch him.

"Ha!" Ash said, and repeated it again as she walk off a bit, then she returned, "Oh you're just brilliant Leon…"

"…"

"You idiot! I LOVE YOU!" Ash yelled angrily, not quite how he imagined it would be, he had imagined her to be smiling happily, saying it with her sweet voice followed by a light giggle and a soft kiss, but he never imagined it would be yelled angrily at him, followed by a punch. The punch… he was completely taken off guard, one moment she was glaring angrily at him, and the next her left fist shot up and slammed painfully into his face, "IDIOT! HOW CAN YOU THINK YOU DON'T DESERVE ME? I LOVE YOU, YOU ASS!!"

And she walked away.

Leon had staggered slightly and plopped down onto the cold floor, his hand touch his cheek, the place where her fist and slammed into, it was bruised and aching terribly, but Leon had never felt better, he laughed loudly; at himself, at the fact that he was punched and at the whole situation. He heard her yell 'STUPID ASS!' from far away, but all he did was laugh harder, he thought he was going crazy.

He went back home with a wide grin on his face, Ash told him she loved him, and he was so happy and relieved.

He entered the house to see Aerith sitting down on the coach with Yuffie, while Cid was on the computer as always.

"Where's Ash?" Leon asked, but Aerith did not answer she stared up at him, immediately she caught sight of the bruise. He put a hand there and it glowed green; he healed himself then repeated the same question, "where's Ash?"

"She went out to deliver some invitations, Leon are you-?"

"I'm fine," he said with a grin, picking up a bunch of black and gold incrusted invites, he walked out the door, the same happy smile on his face. He walked around town searching for the ravine haired, green eyed, powerful punching girl he loved. After giving away all the cards in his possession he saw two specks of blond and black standing togrther and as he neared he saw who they were, Ash and Cloud.

"Ash? Does the Zack you know have eyes the color of the sky?" Cloud asked her, choosing to ask her bluntly for she would obviously command him to do so.

"super bright blue eyes, a little cross lookin' scar on his jaw," pointing to the left of her face, "jet black spiky hair, upbeat attitude, 'I wanna be a hero' type of dude, as muscled as you are if not more, and he stands at 6 foot 3", and he has a habit of doing squats whenever he's bored." Ash revealed with a grin, "oh and he once told me about his best friend… 'Cloud… STRIFE!' oh ma gawd! It IS you!"

"Are you sure?" Cloud asked her, the thrill in him burning strong.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Ash muttered angrily to herself, "yes I'm sure!"

"Fair? Zack Fair?"

"Fair, Zack Fair." Ash repeated with a nod, giggling slightly as if sounded a lot like 'Bond, James Bond'. She looked up at the sound of a familiar voice calling her name and Cloud's, "yeah… see ya later Cloud. Tell Leon something for me,"

"What?" Cloud asked her quizzically.

"Tell him… he's a freaking idiot!!" Ash yelled, stalking off back to the house. He knew she wasn't exactly angry but she was simply shocked and having her fun with him.

The night of the dance came, everyone was coming, and the town was alive with excitement and anticipation. Ash had convinced Cloud to go, and to wear a simple suit plus a plain black mask, and as expected he looked amazing. She stood on her cliff, yes her cliff, it became hers seeing as she's always there. She still hadn't talked to Leon, every time he tried to talk to her she would shake her head and walk away, she was angry but it was more because it was fun torturing him like this. Back to the point, Ash stood on her cliff, contemplating the days, first Leon sort of admitted to loving her, then he was angry at her, after that he was all 'I don't deserve you', and now she was the one being angry at him. Half a year had passed since the incident with Xenotol.

The dance was to be held at the square they found, Aerith said the floor's designs were perfect, and they also decorated the walls with lights and strings and such.

Leon walked out of the house by command of the now bossy Aerith. He was told to find Ash, tell her that the whole group was going as couples, Aerith and Cloud, Yuffie and her Ifrit-guy, Cid and Shera, and Ash and Leon. It was odd how Aerith had always intentionally left the two together, and it was even odder when Aerith told him to buy Ash a necklace, obviously he complied. He glanced at what he held in his hand, 

wondering if she'd like it or not, it looked like one of those up close snow particles, it was this icy blue color and slightly sparkly.

He headed towards the cliff, but she had met him half way there, she looked amazing, her sliver dyed hair shining brightly from the moonlight, her blue-grey eyes coldly perfect, her lips bluish to suit the Ice Queen look, a dress that reached bellow her knees, it was a layered V-cut rim dress, a dark shade of navy blue and cobalt blue trims, she wore long sleeves that reached above her elbows, and navy blue ballerina flats. As he got closer he noticed these small crystalline things on her eyelashes and under her eyes that looked like snow.

"Wow." Leon was lost for words.

"wow to you too," Ash said, looking him up and down, he wore a black suit with a cobalt blue tie, and he had this simple black mask on, his face was a pale white, and two fangs were showing between his lips, his hair seemed to have gotten shorter, a lot shorter, like Squall Leonhart shorter, "what did you do to your hair!?"

"Merlin made it shorter by accident, he was trying to make it look covered in dust or something, and it ended up being shorter, Aerith said I looked good and so, I gotta stay like this," he replied simply with a shrug, not too happy about his hair but he couldn't care less.

"For how long?" Ash asked worriedly.

"Just for the party, after that I'm back to long and Lion-like," he said with a smile, instantly Ash whipped her head away with a 'humph', "oh c'mon!! I apologies didn't I?"

"Yeah, but sorry isn't enough!"

"Would this do?" he asked, lifting up the necklace to her.

"I'm not a material girl, Leon." Ash said, shaking her head then crossing her arms.

"You're still gonna have to take it," Leon said, walking forward to put it on her, she didn't move to stop him, but she moved away her hair. As Leon locked it in place, he had an instinct to do something at that moment.

Ash was staring away in mock anger as he let go of the necklace, she was about to let go of her hair and walk away, but he stopped her, wrapping his arms around her waist, she did nothing to stop him, he gave her a small kiss on her neck, then rested his forehead there.

"…fine," she sighed heavily, "I forgive you…"

"Yes!" Leon said happily, pulling her closer to him as she leaned back into him.

"But really! It's seriously stupid!!" Ash said.

"Yeah," Leon agreed, "yeah, I know…"

"Leon?" Ash said after awhile, "I would apologies for the punch but… you deserved it…"

"I know," Leon said with a smile, the lion in him purring happily at the fact that she was in his arms once again.

"Lion-boy…" Ash muttered, shaking her head, "such a silly boy…" then she turned to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, leaning in as she muttered "I love you," he felt her lips brush against his as she said this, his heart made a back flip and a somersault at the same time, and he lost himself in the kiss.

"Me too," Leon muttered to her, after they pulled away, both sporting huge grins on their faces, "c'mon let's go."

okay so Leon is wierd and sensitive I know, but you see, the guy has issues and he has a habit of not trusting people and not believing that they might actually ike him, and I dont mean that in the shy, not believing in slef type of person... no he's like he doesnt care but he still doubts... something like that... I'm no psycoholgist so I'll just say it's the "Squall Leonhart" syndrom, okay? anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, and I'm sorry I didnt update any sooner, but school has started and seeing as I'm a freshmen and I moved into a new school I'm kinda in the 'getting used to it but still not liking it' phase. anyway... REVIEW!! NOW!!

please?

Pixie.


	15. Chapter 15

hey there people! I think a lot of you hated my last chapter, seeing as only two of you reviewed, by the way thanks for those two, you're awesome!! :D anyway, this chapter is kinda like a filler, but well, Leon's adorable.. which reminds me... HAPPY BIRTHDAY SQUALL LEONHART!! although it's a day alte but... I tried!! :D mew, please review!! :DD

**Chapter fifteen: Happy Birthday Squall!!**

The two marched back to Merlin's house, as Aerith instructed, the had to make sure the market was clear and the house was locked shut and safe, then they were to go back to where the party was. The entire group did not know how Ash looked exactly, but they got an idea from what Merlin had told them.

The party had already begun, the people where still not dancing, either hanging around or drinking something, they all stood around the place and away from the dance floor, a little stage was inserted along with a little buffet and bar. Lights hung across the sky, floating like little faeries, Merlin had made a spell that created ever-lasting flames that floated; the result was beautiful.

"Where are they?" Aerith asked worriedly, Cloud stood next to her, lazily leaning on the wall.

"On the way…" Cloud replied, truly annoyed that he was forced to come. He waited patiently for his companions in torture; Leon and Ash. Then suddenly the whole place went quiet, the band was still playing its soft music, yet the chitter chatter of the people was gone. The people slowly parted, as a couple made their way towards Cloud and Aerith.

The two looked amazing. They complemented each other; his tie was the same color as his eyes yet it was also the same color as the trims on her dress, his mask was the same color as her dress, her silver hair contrasted perfectly with his copper, the two looked perfect together. After being briefly disoriented by the change of hair color for the girl and the hair style for the guy, he realized who they were; Leon and Ash. the two glowed brightly as they walked together, they had this sparkle in their eyes and a shining aura around them. Cloud couldn't help but feel a little jealous of their relationship.

He heard Aerith gasp in joy as she realized who they were. The duo approached them and immediately, Leon received a pat on the back from Cloud and a 'well done', as Ash received a bone crushing hug from Aerith.

"cant-" Ash began struggling to talk, "breath-"

"oh sorry," Aerith apologies, and to Ash's shock and amusement wiped away a tear from her eye.

"Together again?" Cloud mumbled quietly to Leon, who nodded happily. He knew that Aerith and the others did not know of Ash and Leon being an item, they only knew that there was something there.

"Can you do me a favor?" Aerith began, Ash took a deep breath and held it as Leon nodded, "can you dance? Because no one is dancing…" then she continued in a crazy 

frenzy, "and they need to start dancing, because it won't be a party if they are not dancing!"

"okay, okay! Calm down, Aerith!" Ash said, she gave the girl a smile then took Leon's hand as he held it out to her, "enjoy it while it lasts, mister…"

Leon chuckled lightly, as he pulled her along. Cloud knew that Leon was a great at dancing slow, he once saw a video of him dancing with Rinoa, and he had to admit; Leon knew what he was doing. Cloud also knew that one of the things Leon was looking forward to was dancing with Ash. And his opportunity had finally arrived.

Ash could feel Leon's delight coming in waves, he had this smile on his face and his eyes were sparkling like crazy. She couldn't help but give a light giggle. He took her hand in his, and placed her free hand on his shoulder, and then he placed his other hand lightly near her rib cage, barely touching it. Ash giggled lightly when she stepped a little closer.

"Dude, we are a couple so quit being so…" Ash began, but she didn't know how to describe it, she sighed and gave him a smile, "just make yourself comfortable…"

"Oh?" Leon said, giving her a mischievous smirk, he pulled her closer, his hand now rested on her back, her arm wrapped around his neck, and he gave her a grin.

"Yeah!" Ash said with a giggle, Leon was relieved that she did not pull away. They began to sway along with the music, every now and then she would give a little twirl, at which he would laugh.

And as the people on the dance floor increased, the music changed into the ever famous 'Waltz for the Moon'.

"I know this!!" Ash exclaimed happily, on the day they announced Ash's marriage to Blaze they danced to this song, and Leon had danced with Rinoa to this song the first time they met. It was sad how the song reminded the two of their 'exes'.

The two danced along to the music, both knew its specific dance moves, and as they swayed, twirled and moved they looked amazing, the two trusted each other as if they knew the other's next moved and where the other stood, everything was synchronized, in harmony. And as they made the final moves for the waltz, the two stood together in each other's arms, and to Aerith's shock; they kissed, from far away Cloud could hear Fenrir's howl of distress, the Lion had taken Ash's Heart.

Cloud glanced at Aerith, he half expected her to faint, she had this utterly shocked look on her face, he heard a gasp escape her as her hand placed on her chest, then it suddenly turned into a smile of joy.

"Finally!" Aerith said happily. He heard a 'woot' from Yuffie and a 'Yeah!' from Cid, they all witnessed it.

A while later, Ash, Leon, Aerith and Cloud all sat at a table, chatting happily as Aerith congratulated the couple. Soon enough, the people began to wither away, Yuffie joined them.

"So, how'd your date go?" Ash asked Yuffie, Ash was sitting between Cloud and Leon as always, with Aerith next to Cloud and Yuffie sat next to her to complete the circle.

"Crappy… he was such an a-hole!!" Yuffie said angrily.

"What did he do?" Aerith asked her.

"What bastards do!" Yuffie muttered.

"That's because he couldn't handle himself around a hottie like you!" Ash said jokingly with a wink, the group laughed lightly and then Yuffie proceeded to congratulated Leon on hooking up with 'a hottie like Ash', in which he gave a light blush and Ash giggled.

"Excuse me, but the lead singer headed home-" a man said.

"Karaoke!!" Ash yelled happily, jumping up on stage, "this song goes out to… Cloud!!"

"Here we go…" Cloud muttered sadly as Ash began to sing. Her voice wasn't exactly the singing type but it was good enough not to make their ears bleed. She sang 'Lonely no more' by Rob Thomas just for the sake of annoying him, then she sang 'Dance With the Devil' by Breaking Benjamin for no one in particular. Around that time, Yuffie jumped up in stage and sang 'Around the World' by ATC, and cracked Ash up. Then Aerith sang 'Umbrella' by Rihanna in her way which was soft and quiet, it was perfect, and as expected her voice was silky and amazing. Then Ash jumped up and sang what she knew Leon would like.

_Whenever I sang my songs,_

_On this stage… on my own,_

_Whenever I said my words,_

_Wishing they would be heard._

Leon smiled happily, wondering how on earth she found out, he smiled happily as he watched her sing, her voice seemed melodically enchanting, even though Cloud thought it wasn't that great, he watched her smile gently whenever she said something familiar.

_I saw you smiling at me,_

_Was it real or just my fantasy?_

He knew that he smiled at her mostly all the time, and that was definitely real, it was always because he was happy she was there beside him, happy that she was with him.

_You'd always be there in the corner…_

_Of this tiny little bar…_

He was in fact always there, always around her, ready to jump in for the rescue, or even comfort her when she wasn't at her best, being around her was like a hobby of his, something he willingly did.

_My last night here for you,_

_Same old songs…. Just once more…_

It's not like he minded, on the contrary… he loved it… her proverbial last night would be the day she leaves to find Blaze and the others… he dreaded it…

_My last night here with you…_

_Maybe yes… maybe no…_

_I kind of liked it your way.._

_How you shyly placed your eyes on me…_

For they where in fact always there, keeping watch, fondly waiting in anticipation for the day she will finally be with him forever…

_Did you ever know…_

_That I had mine on you?_

He knew, he finally knew… and he found out in the most bizarre and painful way possible-getting punched in the jaw

_Darling, so there you are…._

_With that look on your face..._

_As if you're never hurt…_

_As if you're never down…_

Now that part was what he thought of her, she always had this happy look on her face, and even when she was about to die from blood lose that day she still smiled, and whenever she was down she would quickly perk up at the sight of him.

The song continued on, and so did Leon's thoughts, and as soon as she reached him, he couldn't stop himself from planting a soft kiss on her now not-so-bluish lips. Cloud shook his head at the two, and Aerith grinned happily, yet Yuffie chose to interrupt their moment by yelling "EW!! Get a room!!"

But all she got was a slap to the back of the head from Ash when she pulled away from Leon. A while later Yuffie got a camera out, she took a picture of a smiling Leon with Ash leaning in right next to his face, she took a picture of Cloud and Leon, standing next to each other as they watched Ash prank an unsuspecting victim. She took another picture of Aerith and Cloud talking together, then se took a picture of herself and Ash grinning madly, then she took another one of Ash and Leon, Leon was standing in front of Ash who was peeking over his shoulder, arms wrapped around him, while his were casually stuck in his pockets. Then on the road back, Ash had Leon's tie wrapped around her neck, his top two buttons were open with a white shirt peeking out, his shirt was hanging out and he was staring at Ash who had thrown an arm around his shoulders and placed his hands around her waist, then gave a grin.

Soon enough they attacked Cloud, they gave Leon the camera then disappeared, a while later he heard some yelling then Cloud was running towards him followed by Ash and Yuffie, both were laughing loudly while Cloud had a panicked expression on his face, Leon immediately took the picture.

"Leon! Take control of your woman!!" Cloud yelled as he raced towards Merlin's house.

The group entered the house and branched off towards their rooms, switching into pajamas, and then jumping into bed.

"SLUMBER PARTY!!" Ash yelled, running from room to room, slamming doors open and waking up the inhabitants of said room. Minutes later, the entire group stood in the living room, carrying their stuff And looking absolutely disheveled.

"Ash… what the hell?" Cloud asked in annoyance, his left eye twitching after a brief yawn.

"Aw, c'mon!! Let's have a slumber party!!" Ash ordered happily.

"Isn't that a girl thing?" asked Leon, he was leaning on the wall, his things had already been made into a bed by Ash, right next to hers, just as he requested.

"Oh shut up!! You get to sleep next to me so we know you're okay with it! So, shush!" Ash commanded, and grinned as soon as he did, then she turned to Cloud, "dude, just go wid da flow…"

"Truth or dare?" Yuffie questioned hopefully, and as soon as Ash nodded she jumped down on one of the coaches and made herself comfortable, soon enough Ash managed to make Cloud join them and Aerith had already seated herself next to Yuffie.

"Cloud!!" Ash yelled, as the bottle spun on her and Cloud.

"Truth or dare?" Cloud grunted, completely disliking the fact that his sleep had been disturbed.

"Dare!!" Ash said happily.

"What?" Cloud turned to Aerith and Yuffie, the two talked together in whispers then burst into a fit of giggles, they turned to Cloud and whispered in his ear, "whatever… make out with Leon…"

"Oh c'mon! That's like… zero creativity!!" Ash said, shaking her head in disapproval.

"Fine, dye your hair pink for a day," Cloud muttered.

"Brilliant!- wait, what??" Ash yelled the last bit angrily.

"Creative, no?" Cloud asked her, high-fiving Leon.

"Oh fine…" Ash said sadly, she spun the bottle again and it landed on Leon and Aerith.

"Truth or dare?" Aerith asked Leon, yawning tiredly.

"Truth, I guess," Leon said, playing with Ash's hair as she leaned back into him.

"I know it's not right for me to ask you this… but… who do you love more," Aerith began, "Ash or Rinoa?"

"Ash," Leon answered without hesitation, at which Ash giggled lightly.

"I think he's hooked…" Yuffie muttered, shaking her head, "how lovey dovey… ew.."

"Jealous!" Ash said, pointing at Yuffie, "you all are!!" then she wrapped her arms around Leon possessively, who turned red from lack of air and because she was so close, "ALL OF YOU!!"

The group laughed at Ash's antics. The bottle spun again, and again and again, until slowly the group drifted off to sleep. Ash laid in Leon's arms, smiling happily, Cloud was sleeping in a cocoon made of sheets, Aerith slept like a princess while Yuffie slet like a star fish, she moved a bit and accidentally kicked Leon near the groin, but Ash had it all covered so she was the one receiving the bruise and not him.

The next day, Aerith woke up first followed by Cloud, and she began making pancakes. Yuffie woke up a while after and immediately took hold of the camera, she turned to Leon and Ash's sleeping forms; Ash was laying half on top of Leon, her head on his chest while his hand rest on her upper back while the other supported her by wrapping around her gently, Yuffie took a picture of the two and immediately 

Ash's eyes snapped open, locking onto Leon's face, she smirked evilly and put a hand on his cheek, instantly his eyes fluttered open and locked onto hers, he gave her a smile but their little blissful moment was interrupted when a sudden flash occurred.

"Yuffie!!" Ash whined jokingly, "I know we are perfect together but… quit taking pictures of us!"

"Cocky…" Yuffie muttered jokingly, then moved on, "if you give me one really perverted picture I'll go away!!"

"Okay!!" Ash said happily, starting to push herself up to be completely on top of Leon.

"Wait-what? No!!" Leon yelled, but it was too late, Ash was already straddling his waist, one arm supporting her while the other was on the side of his face, she leaned in and Yuffie began clicking repeatedly, Leon was momentarily blind but that didn't stop him from enjoying the blissful feeling of her lips on his, apparently so did Ash for it soon switched into a total make out session, they could hear Yuffie's screams from far away but they were too busy, soon enough Ash, sadly, pulled away, a sad smile on her kiss swollen lips.

"You taste like chocolate…" Leon muttered happily, kissing her again.

"And you taste like coffee…" Ash answered, and then continued sarcastically, "wonder why…"

"Leon! Get the hell off of Ash!!" Cloud yelled, Ash jokingly let out a loud moan, followed by a breathless 'Leon'.

"NOO!! MY BRAIN!! IT'S ON FIRE!!" Yuffie screamed, clutching her head and yelling out of the room.

"ahahahaha- you're too easy!!" Ash laughed, she pushed herself up, ran towards her room, then came back down fully dressed, "food?"

"FOOD!!" Aerith yelled from the kitchen, the group moved on to that room, ate then headed off in their own way.

"Cloud wait!" Ash yelled, running after him, a box in hand.

"What?" Cloud asked, still walking.

"This is yours," Ash said, he glanced at her, "it's a gift! C'mon take it!!"

"What is it?" Cloud asked, but she didn't answer she shoved the box into his hands and walked away to the castle.


	16. Chapter 16

okay so this chapter can be labeled as boring and dull, though we sorta hit the plot now, basicaaaally, it's mainly in Leon's point of view, so yeah... and theres a bit about their first date, and then Ash kinda has to-... ehehehe, not gonna tell ya!! :P

**Chapter sixteen:**

Cloud now proudly sported his new mobile bought to him by Ash, even though he rarely answered and even rarer for him to call, he still had it and never threw it away. Ash and Leon were always to be found together, either working together or simply being there together. Aerith was, as always, extremely supportive, and when the time came for Ash and Leon's first date, well… it went something like this:

Leon walked around town, checking up on random people he knew, such as the three ducks and the moogles. The moogles had a habit of traveling around the world to sell their goods, but Leon had other ideas, he convinced them to use holograms because it was much safer; for the worlds aren't exactly safe and secure. And so they opted for holograms.

Leon's mind was busy thinking up a plan, he noticed that they –Ash and himself- never went out on a date, and what sort of couple would they be if they never went out on a date? He rummaged in his brain for ideas, all he got were things either too mushy for Ash's liking or too stupid for his liking, and so he chose to go for the semi-expert on such things; Cloud- no Aerith, Cloud was absolutely useless when it comes to dating/girls/anything related to emotions.

"Aerith?" Leon began, clearing his throat slightly upon finding her alone in the kitchen.

"Hey, Leon!" Aerith greeted him, rummaging about in a cupboard.

"I need your help…" he began, "it's about Ash…"

Instantly she shot up and looked at him in the face a happy look on her face, she gave him a smile, took his hand and dragged him into the empty living room.

"Ash?" Aerith asked, willing him to continue.

"Yeah, well, I was wondering… what should I do on our first date?" Leon asked her, feeling slightly nervous, which brought back memories from his teenagehood, Aerith squealed happily and began to tell him what to do, a lot of it sounded completely unlike Ash, so he resorted to simply taking ideas, and so he came up with the perfect thing.

Ash jumped from one place to another, she had been on her cliff for most of the morning and she was really missing Leon, so she went about searching for him, in the end she found him leaning on the railings, thinking, in the market, a bag of empty potion bottles sat next to him. She walked up to him seductively, her hand traced up and down his arm then wrapped around his neck.

"Ash…" he muttered happily leaning in to give her a kiss, which she happily received.

"Hellooo, honey munchkin pie…" Ash said with a grin, as his face fell.

"So demeaning…" he sighed, then he wrapped an arm around her waist, "let's walk…"

"sure, man," as the two walked they passed by the items shop, the accessories shop, and the moogles shop, plus the clothing stores, Ash pulled to a stop near the clothes shop, "REEEEED!!"

Leon shook his head, a smile gracing his face. She loved anything red, and she happened to catch sight of a red dress in the window, he knew she didn't exactly notice whether it was a bird or a dress, all she noticed was that it was red. They moved on to the accessories shop, Ash pulled to a stop there as well, he noticed what she was looking at, a silver ring with a wolf engraved on it, it's eye was a small dark red jewel, obviously for storing fire magic in it.

"Aah… the Alpha Ring?" said the man at the accessory shop, waving about a huge paper fan in his hand, "prrrretty iznt it? It ztorz Firaga mageec, and it alzzo protects you againzzt 45 dameege."

"So pwetty!!" Ash grinned, he saw her eyes sparkle slightly, and then it vanished, "not a material girl…"

"No buying? Then why you ztand here? Blocking zee way of zee coztomers??" the shop keeper yelled, waving around his fan in anger as a bug flew by, "move! You idiotz!!"

"Why I outta..!!" Ash began but Leon took her by the arm and pushed her back, _Thwack_, a red mark appeared on Leon's face as the man swung his huge fan about in anger.

"MOVE!!" the man yelled again, Leon dodged and made his escape, along with Ash. She lightly placed a hand on the red mark and it vanished as a green light appeared.

"Can I laugh?" Ash questioned, Leon noticed how she bit her lips and how her eyes brimmed with tears, and Leon sighed as he nodded. Instantly, Ash burst into a fit of laughter then suddenly switched to attack mode, and before Leon could stop her she ran towards the man, gabbed the fan out of his hand and slammed it into his face, again and again, "YOU AND YOUR STUPID CUSTOMERS! YOU IDIOT! YOU'RE BLESSED TO EVEN HAVE THE HONOR TO BE NEAR HIM! IKILLYOUYOUIDIOTSTUPIDFOOLDONTKNOWWHAT-" and Leon did not get the rest, besides he was busy laughing hysterically and then dragging away Ash to notice what she was saying.

"Aerith!!" Ash yelled as she ran into the kitchen that night, "where's Leon?? My honey bunny has gone missing!!"

"You'll find out in due time…" Aerith said wisely, laughing slightly at Ash's nickname for Leon, she would always come up with a different one, each one funnier than the last.

"You know?" Ash squinted in suspicion at Aerith, who nodded, "you're evil… YOU'RE ALL EVOL!!"

Aerith giggled lightly, then moved on to mess about her kitchen. Ash ran out of the house to look for Leon and if chanced about meeting Cloud it would be wonderful. She lost hope and headed off to her cliff, half way through the Borough Cloud intercepted her.

"Uh.. Ash, uh… I need to go buy some armor and potions, uh… come with me?" Cloud said, giving her a small sheepish smile.

"I know you're up to something," Ash said, putting her hands on her hips, "but hey, if I get to tag along with you and bore you out of your mind… I'M IN!!" Ash yelled happily, walking side by side with Cloud, who sighed in relief as Ash gave up her curiosity for the sake of annoying him, "so Cloudy McCloud Cloud… are you a virgin?"

"…!" Cloud froze in place, his face turned a bright, bright, super bright red, and he wouldn't budge, not even looking at Ash.

"Are ya? 'Cause I really can't imagine you having-" Ash began to blab, but Cloud cut in.

"I really can't take this!" Cloud yelled, sprinting away from Ash.

"Wait!! Cloudy-pants!! Where are you going??" Ash yelled after him, running after him like a girl.

"Screw loyalty! Screw Leon!!" he yelled running out of sight. Ash laughed lightly, and then sighed sadly, so much for having fun. She pranced off to find Cid, maybe she would have some fun there.

"Ci-iiid!!" Ash called, as she entered the hangar, glancing left and right, only to spot him and Cloud standing together working on what looked like a motorcycle, she held up her hand in an alien peace sign, "we come in peace!"

"McPervy," Cloud muttered under his breath.

"Chocobo-head," Ash retorted, their bickering unlike Ash and Leon's, with Cloud it was more brother and sister than anything else.

"Quit yer bickerin'!" Cid ordered, his shirt completely covered in grease and sweat, he wiped at his forehead with his arm.

"whatcha doin'?" Ash asked, glancing in interest at the motorcycle.

"I found this somewhere in the mountains, it is my old bike- Fenrir." Cloud said, a fond look on his face as he stared at his motorcycle.

"And we're tryin' ta fix it!" Cid exclaimed, picked up a random screw driver and waving it about dangerously.

"Ooh! Can I help? Please, please?? Pretty please?" Ash begged, holding up her hands under her face hopefully in what looked like a prayer. She grinned happily as soon as Cloud and Cid nodded. They began to explain what all the things in the motorcycle did, and what was wrong with it, and so she helped them fix it, either rolling down to lay under it and screwing things in place, oddly enough she found it strangely entertaining.

"Oh c'mon! Don't get me jealous!!" Leon said, as he entered the place. Instantly Ash shot up, unfortunately her head slammed into the side of the motorcycle.

"Youch! Sorry Fenrir!! My apologies!!" Ash said, bowing slightly to the motorcycle, and then turned to Leon, "where've you been?"

"Working on something…" Leon said, glancing away then nodding with a smile to Cloud, "hey how 'bout we go home?... you take shower… get dressed… and we'll go somewhere?"

"Okay!! See ya later guys!!" Ash yelled waving vigorously at the others. As soon as they entered the house Ash ran for the bathroom, immediately taking a shower. A light knock on the door of the bathroom sounded, Ash answered knowingly, "what is it, pookie bear?"

"I've left something on your bed for you to wear," Leon yelled through the door, and then he added, "Meet me where the dance was… okay?"

"OKIES, BABY!!" Ash yelled. A while later, when she stepped out of the shower, she found a pair of black pants and a blood red T-shirt, Ash held back the urge to brain-hug Leon, he got her a shirt in her favorite color! As soon as she was dressed she bounded down the stairs and into the living room, "Dudes and Dudettes, Leon has a great taste!!"

"He does, doesn't he?" Aerith commented, checking out Ash's clothes. Ash ran out of the house and towards the little court yard place. She found Leon pacing there looking absolutely nervous, she chose to be little comforting, "Leon?"

He spun around to face her, a look of stunned relief crossed his face, but the anxiousness was still apparent. She strode up to him and planted a soft kiss on his lips, his anxiety lessened, as if comforted by her presence.

"Where we goin', love?" Ash questioned him, taking hold of his hand as they stood.

"I'm not telling!" Leon said with a grin, and then he stood behind her, a thick strip of black material in his hands, "now close your eyes," he muttered, slipping the material over her eyes and tying it in place. The two walked on, Leon leading Ash's stumbling self towards a certain place.

"Leon!!" Ash exclaimed as she lost her footing for the umpteenth time, Leon sighed in amusement and helped her walk on, and as they finally reached the area.

"Open your eyes…" Leon muttered in her ear, as he untied to black material, it slowly slipped off to hang around her neck. And to Leon's joy, she gasped in delight, they stood in the Dark Depths, light bulbs were forced in place in the ground, lighting up a way for them to walk. In the moonlight of midnight, everything looked so beautiful. Ash realized that the light bulbs were in fact the same empty potion bottles she had noticed before, they all seemed to hold some kind of flame.

"You did this?" Ash questioned, though she knew it was obvious she still asked.

He nodded lightly and asked, "You like?"

Ash nodded vigorously, planting a kiss on his smiling lips, she took hold of his hand and headed on, walking between the lit light bulbs. They finally reached the cliff, which was also lit up; light bulbs floated about in the air, as well as other light bulbs going around the edges of the cliff, in the middle of the place sat a table with two seats, on it rested an assortment of Ash's favorites.

Ash giggled happily, standing in place to observe it all, to marvel at its beauty. Her 'marveling' was interrupted as Leon took hold of her hand and dragged her to the table, sitting her down in one of the chairs like a gentleman, and then sitting down in front of her.

"Spoiling me already?" Ash asked jokingly.

"That's what you do when you're in love…" Leon muttered seductively, as Ash laughed lightly, "this is supposed to be our first date."

"A great one at that!" Ash said, grinning. The two dug in, discussing light subjects as time flew by, "well, Liony-Leon, I gotta admit it, you are a catch!"

"Er… thanks?" Leon said, laughing slightly as Ash joined in, "oh! I got something for you," he said, digging into jacket pocket, at which Ash noticed a light red mark on his cheek much like the one he got from the accessory shop keeper, he took out a small velvety red box, "this is for you," he handed it to her, and as she took it he said, "I know you're not a material girl, but I wanted to give it to you."

Once opened, Ash saw that it was the same wolf engraved ring they saw in the accessory shop, she grinned happily and took it out and into her hand, marveling at its detail and beauty, but before she could put it on, Leon took it from her.

"I would've asked you to be mine forever…" Leon began, a sad smile on his lips, "but I knew you wouldn't be able to answer," Ash's eyebrows were raised, "because you are wedded to Blaze, not because I doubt you would say yes, I know you would," Ash gave him a grin as she nodded, "so this is to show that you will be mine… once you're engagement to Blaze is broken."

"I wish it was," Ash muttered sadly, then in a blur of Black and red, Ash now sat in Leon's comfortable lap, arms wrapped around his neck possessively, "Leon, just so you know… I would say yes- I will say yes…"

"I know you will," Leon muttered sadly, hating the fact that she was legally bound to someone else. He slipped the ring on her finger, and she practically glowed, he couldn't help but laugh in joy, she held him so close, so tightly; it was so hard for him not to suffocate in sorrow, she was not yet his, though she was mentally, emotionally and soon enough physically his, but legally not.

Days passed, and Leon and Ash grew closer, whenever Leon was asked about the scatterbrained Ash's location, he always knew, and whenever Leon grew silent and his answers grew short and complex, Ash would understand and explain, whenever one of them was angry or depressed the other was there for comfort, and as Ash's birthday approached; Leon was the best person to ask for an opinion.

A few days before Ash's birthday, Cid burst into the kitchen, yelling for Leon, who was going down the stairs, about to go out to find Ash. Cid told him there was an important message, and asked him to follow. And as they stood over the computer screen, reading the black words, letter by letter, word by word, Leon's heart sank, he knew where Blaze was.

That day, Leon decided to tell Ash of what he knew, he wondered if he would lose her, if she would slip right through his fingers and vanish from his side, _No, she wouldn't, she's Ash…_ he tried to convince himself but nothing worked, somehow he felt like there was a chance she might leave him for good, but it all depended on her. He told her, and he watched her expression change from her usual happy into a quiet calm, then suddenly she gave a grin, somehow he felt it was fake, completely fake, it did not reach her eyes, there was no twinkle of joy there, there was only sadness. And when he asked her all she did was look away, it meant she had to go look for Blaze, and when he held her close and she nuzzled his neck, it meant she really didn't want to, and when she kissed him passionately and apologetically, it meant she would always love him, but duty called.

And on the day of her birthday, they did another celebration, big and fancy, everyone was to dress formally. Leon wore his old SeeD suite and looked as handsome as ever, and Ash arrived home to find two boxes resting on her bed, she 

showered and threw open the first; a long flowing blood red gown, that wrapped around her neck neatly and fell to the floor. Then she opened the second to reveal a pair of simply black stilettos with a red rim, and as she put them on, doing the final touches, a knock sounded at the door.

"Come in!" Ash yelled, then sighed in anguish as she suffered to tie up the last knot for her dress. And as expected, Leon came to the rescue, he had a small sad hint to him but he still had this happy aura around him, it was only there because she was. He tied it up for her, and as his eyes slid down her beautiful frame he couldn't help but remember the night they spent together, he remembered the feel of her skin on his, he remembered the feel of her anxious lips pressing against his, that night she shined like a beautiful emerald jewel, her bare skin so soft and delicate, he was glad she allowed him to memorize every curve and swerve, that night would be forever imprinted in his mind, "Leon, you're staring…"

"It's hard not to," he said sadly, his voice scratchy, Ash walked forward and took his hand in hers, he knew she was leaving tomorrow.

"I'm only going because I have to break up the engagement, so that we can be-" Ash began, and Leon nodded knowingly.

"I know, I know… but I cant help it," Leon cut in, muttering sadly as he caressed her face, "what am I to do without you next to me?"

"I-" her voice broke, she really didn't want to leave, she didn't want to leave **him**, he was the only thing keeping her from going insane, the only thing keeping her in check, the only thing that she would die, only to live again and die, then live and die all over again for. A tear escaped her followed by a sad sob, her head was soon buried in his shoulder as he tried to comfort her, but the two felt the same, so how were they to do the comforting if they needed to be the comforted?

They slowly parted, and Ash gave him a grin, as if trying to wipe away all the sadness with a simple smile, and that was how it was for Leon, all she had to do was smile and he would be happy again. And as she dried away the tears and she returned to her usual pale, she grinned big and said,

"I'm gonna come back," Ash said in determination, "I promise."

Leon smiled happily, gave her a kiss and pulled away as soon as a hard knocking came to the door.

"AAASH!! WE'RE HERE TO DO YOU'RE MAKE UP!" Yuffie yelled from the other side. Leon sighed sadly, while Ash gave him a smile.

"See you soon," he muttered, giving her hand a small peck as she giggled jokingly.

"If I survive this…" Ash replied sadly, he laughed lightly as he exited the room, and at once Yuffie and Aerith ran into the room and began rubbing things onto Ash's face.

"No, no, no, that won't do!" Aerith said shaking her head, and with a flick of her wrist –a trick Merlin taught her- all Ash's current make up vanished, "how about we go for something simple?"

A while of Mascara, lip gloss, and eye shadow later, Ash stood in front of the mirror, next to her on either side stood Aerith and Yuffie, grinning like a couple of giddy school girls.

"**This** is your definition of 'simple'??" Ash questioned in anguish; her lips covered in lip gloss, her eyelashes done, a bit of black eye liner here and there and her eyelids were tinted black slightly, Aerith giggled happily and Yuffie clapped her hands in excitement, another flick of Aerith's hand and her makeup became permanent, something about 'if you and Leon have another 'smoochie time' he wouldn't be covered in lip gloss' or whatever, Ash's brain was currently trying to picture Leon's reaction.

"May I come in?" Cloud's voice rang through the room from the doorway; he entered as Ash told him to. He was soon followed by Cid and Leon, all either smiling happily at Ash or staring in a stunned silence at her, then Cloud mocked, "would ya look at that…"

"Shut up, you!" Ash yelled, and as she turned around to face them, Leon's breath was caught in his throat, she looked so beautiful, out of place but beautiful, she squirmed slightly, then muttered nervously, "quit staring!"

The three laughed lightly, and then they proceeded to give Ash a few words, Cid went first.

"You better take of ar Ragnarok!" Cid said gruffly, and Ash laughed lightly, as she nodded he continued, "Good luck, Girly!" he gave her a pat on the back, "now be sure ta come back, 'cause I sure as hell won't be able ta handle a mopin' Leon!"

Then came Aerith's turn, "you'll come back home, right, Ash?"

And then came Yuffie, "Ash, you better come back, or I'll hunt you down and kick your ass ninja style!"

"Good luck, Ash," began Cloud quietly, "come back, although it would be a bit less annoying without you here-"

"HEY!!"

"Ouch! I was kidding!!" Cloud exclaimed, rubbing his sore shoulder, then he continued, "we all know Leon's gonna be a drag with you gone," Ash giggled lightly as the rest nodded vigorously, "can you do me a favor?-"

"No worries, I'll get you your boyfriend back…" Ash replied jokingly, waving about her hand as if brushing it off, then she proceeded to laugh as Cloud turned crimson yet again, "ah, I'll miss ya too, Cloudy!"

"Wait, what? No!! HANDS OFF!! DAMNIT ASH, LET GO!!"

"But you're so huggable!"

"ASH!!"

"Yes, huggy bear?"

"LEGGOO!!"

"NEVER!!"

"LEON!! GET YOU'RE WOMAN OFF OF ME!!" Cloud yelled out, and as a response he got a quiet cough from Leon, which resulted in Ash letting go of him.

"Cutie pie?" Ash called out, a new nickname for Leon.

"Ash," Leon responded simply, and in an instant he felt Ash's arms wrap around him, he hugged her back and as they pulled away, Yuffie yelled out,

"PRESENT TIME!!"

First, Aerith gave her a green ribbon that stored Curaga, and a white ribbon that spelled out the words that were on the mind of the wearer. Second, Yuffie gave her a pair of black and red rimmed goggles, muttering a 'you'll find out why soon enough', then came Cid's turn and he gave her a pair of keys;

"so you can be airborne!" he grinned happily, Ash glanced at the inscription and the word 'Phoenix' stood out, "yer own gummiship to wreck!"

Instantaneously, Ash hugged the heck out of Cid and all he did was huff and puff in embarrassment, then came Cloud's turn.

"Cid made you airborne, and seeing as you don't have a ride on the ground you can have this," he gave her a pair of silver keys, the word 'Ira' was shone on it, "I have Fenrir and you got Ira."

"A motorcycle??" Ash yelled out happily, she squealed in joy and gave him a rib cracking hug. And soon enough Leon's turn arrived; Ash did not expect anything from him, yet…

"Well, that dress was from me, and I already gave you a ring, but seeing as I love you, I still get to pamper you. And because you have a thing for my old jacket… you can have it… for good," he said, and Ash grinned happily at that, "also," he handed her what seemed like a reddish blueish crystal that hung from a silver chain, then he whispered to her, "so we can meet in our dreams."

The party continued, Ash spent her time around Leon and Cloud, both happily enjoying their time with her, the two knew they would miss her; even though Cloud would never admit it, he enjoyed their light bickering, and her enjoyable presence, and in Leon's case, it was much worse, everyone knew that half of everything he did was because it would benefit Ash, or it would be related to her, she was his Heart and Soul, she was his Light, without her there was a possibility he might go back to his old ways. They would all miss her, and she would miss them.

Unfortunately, their party was crashed by a large group of Heartless pooling out of the dark depths, a large stream of Heartless came, and it seemed never ending. All the people in the party scattered, and went back to the city, just as Leon and the others ordered them to, Aerith led them all back, as Yuffie, Ash, Cid, Cloud and Leon took their battle stances, it was lucky that Cloud and Leon had snuck in their swords, Leon claiming that it went with the SeeD look, and Cloud giving all, who denied him his right of keeping his sword next to him, a cold shoulder. The two began slashing at the Heartless as Ash took out her gun from under her dress, she had tied it to her thigh, she muttered a 'sorry, Leon' as she ripped up the dress from the side to give her more room to move, thankfully, Merlin whipped his wand and her dress got slightly shorter and her shoes tuned into a pair of converses reaching up to mid-shin, same went for Yuffie, the two started slashing and killing, trying to lessen the enemies numbers but to no avail, they just kept coming and coming.

"to the Bailey!!" yelled Leon as he slashed down a couple more Heartless, took hold of Ash from the waist and dragged her up the stairs, only to watch her stand on the windowless sills and shoot down Heartless, Cloud kept on a rhythm with Leon, back to back the two fought, they closed the giant gates that led to the beautiful court and the deep depths, and the Heartless stayed back like a pack of hungry dogs in a cage.

The group had to tell all the citizens that all areas from the Bailey and back are out of bounds to all, after that they arranged a meeting.

"Where'd they come from?" Ash questioned, hovering above Cloud as Leon paced up and down the living room.

"I don't know, but we need to make sure they don't get in," Leon muttered thoughtfully, a deep frown appeared on his face in concentration.

"We definitely cannot kill them all," Cloud muttered, as Aerith, who was currently healing Yuffie, agreed.

"Yes, it's too risky, they're too much," Aerith muttered.

"We could ask Merlin to give us a spell," Ash suggested, as she walked up to Leon, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, and his pacing pulled to a stop.

"Ash's got a point," Cloud agreed, looking at Leon meaningfully.

"Cid, can you design a program that will protect the city?" Leon asked, looking at Cid with the same old frown in place.

"Yeah, but it'll take me some time," Cid muttered, and then Merlin piped up with his usual competition with Cid.

"And if that doesn't work, I will create a special spell to make sure the Heartless don't cross over," Merlin said, waving about his wand, at which Ash dodged instinctively.

"It'll work, ya old lunatic!" Cid yelled.

"Lunatic? LUNATIC?? I'll show you 'lunatic'!!" Merlin yelled after him, waving about his wand and casting random spells. Everyone knew that even if they tried to stop the two, they would somehow end up in the line of fire.

"Ash? I'm sorry the Heartless crashed your party," Leon apologies, giving a really guilty look. Ash frowned at him, why would he apologize? He has no reason to, it was not his fault, and after all, all she wanted for her birthday is to spend some time with him, "I'm really sorry…"

Ash didn't respond, choosing to give him a lecture about it when they were alone. And as the party slowly withered away, and Ash and Leon went up to their room, she turned to him, but before she could say anything he apologized again.

"I'm really sorr-" his words died at his lips, which were soon glued onto Ash's soft ones, she kissed him with such force that he was left breathless, and somehow his back hit the wall as she pressed into him, then she whispered in his ear.

"Quit apologizing," then she kissed him roughly again, "you have no reason to…" then she lost track of her thoughts as she angrily invaded his lips and mouth, Leon was in a euphoric state, but his guilt kept him from enjoying it all.

"But I-"

"Don't you get it?" Ash began, pulling away slightly only to whisper, "All I want for my birthday is to spend my time with you."

And then a rush of excitement and joy filled him, and in a second, Ash's back hit the cold hard wall as he pressed against her, she didn't have time to notice what was happening as Leon carefully managed to tease her nerves, and as always she managed to tease him back, her lips brushed against his as she muttered his name seductively, driving him insane, which resulted in his lips locking with hers, a long while later the two broke apart.

"I'm gonna miss you so much…" Ash muttered sadly with a small smile, Leon's fingers traced up her back as a small smirk appeared on his lips, then his fingers pulled to a stop on her shoulder blades.

"Just… come back," Leon muttered sadly, he gave her another kiss as they parted, Ash headed for the bathroom to try and remove her makeup as Leon went to change clothes. And as the two lay down in bed, side by side, he turned to her, "Ash…"

"I promise, I will," she said quietly.

* * *

like review... pronto!!...please?? pretty please?


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter seventeen:**

Days passed, then weeks and months passed, Ash sat in the beautiful cockpit of her very own gummiship, she raised her head to glance at the and date, a year had passed, most of the year was spent searching for the world her friends were on, and the rest was for the journey back, at one point in her travels, she received a letter telling her that Leon had entered the hospital from 'severe blood loss and deep injuries', after further investigation it turned out that dear old sadistic Leon had forgotten to purchase Elixirs and Potions and jumped into combat with a herd of Heartless, and so bit by bit, his strength and stamina trickled away, if it weren't for Cloud, who found him, Leon would have been long gone, and so Cloud kept his promise; he would keep Ash's beloved Leon out of harm's way and she would bring back Zack, 'Cloud's boyfriend' back safely.

Leon's injuries were too severe and deep for them to be healed with magic alone, and so he was hospitalized. Ash almost turned the ship right around and headed back for Hollow Bastion, but she knew it would take her too long to reach him and also because it was her duty to bring back her friends to where they belonged, and for another reason, Cloud, Aerith and Cid told her that he was in safe hands, and that if anything happened to him they would 'throttle the hell out of the culprit' or even 'chop said culprit to itty bitty bits with my (Cloud's) buster sword' and 'fly that bugger to la-la-land and leave him to pop in mid space!', and so Ash decided to send Leon a 'thoughtful' letter, a letter that went something like this:

"LEON, YOU BASTARD!! HOW COULD YOU?? YOU SCARED ME TO DEATH!! IF YOU EVER PULL A STUNT LIKE THAT AGAIN SO HELP ME LORDY-PANTS I WILL NEVER COME BACK!! Well, not really… BUT IF YOU DO… THIS WILL BE MY LAST MESSAGE TO YOU! HA! THINK ABOUT THAT WHILE YOU ROT IN A HOSPITAL BED!! YOU ASS!! WHEN I COME BACK I'M GONNA KILL YOU!! I'LL SHOW YOU!!"

Despite the fact that said letter managed to bring tears to Yuffie's eyes every time she read it or even thought of it, it still knocked out the suicidal behavior out of Leon's system.

"Aaaash!!" yelled a familiar voice as the door slid open, only to reveal a black haired, bright-blue eyed man in his twenties, a man who went by the name of Zack Fair, "oh, this is so boring!! When I get home I'm gonna get me some Heartless to kill!!"

"oh? What about your boyfriend?" Ash asked mischievously.

"Cloud? CLOUD'S THERE??" he asked enthusiastically, he punched the air above him in joy as he yelled "YEAH BABY!!"

"so he _is _your boyfriend!" Ash said victoriously, "I didn't know you were gay!"

"gay? Naw! I'm Bi!" Zack joked happily, pointing to his chest with a big grin on his face.

"Bi? That's even better!" Ash yelled happily, clapping her hands together.

"yeah, I always thought you were too," Zack added as he sat down beside her.

"I guess you could say I am…" Ash said, giving her friend a grin.

"but on a more serious note," Zack began.

"**you** can be serious??" Ash exclaimed jokingly, getting a smack to the back of the head.

"Cloud and I are best friends," Zack continued.

"looks more than that to me…" Ash muttered darkly.

"Ash! quit it!! I'm being serious here!!" Zack yelled at her.

"so am I!!"

"No you're not, you're mocking me and my Cloudy!!" Zack yelled out indignantly.

"oh fine!" Ash snapped, throwing her arms across her chest, a while passed and neither said anything, "how 'bout really, really, reaaaaaally close best friends, that you're almost in love?"

"oh, man!!" Zack sighed, "I guess you could say that…"

"I'll settle for that," Ash said with a happy grin. Another moment of comfortable silence passed, then Zack turned to her, speaking fairly seriously, and Ash knew that play time was over.

"do you still love him? I mean, Blaze, do you still love Blaze?" Zack turned to her.

"yes, I still love him, I love him… like a brother, and nothing more," Ash answered in all honesty, and as Zack's eyes bored into hers he knew she was telling the truth.

"and do you love this new guy?" Zack asked, noticing the small smile appearing on her lips as he said his name.

"I'll let you be the judge of that," Ash said with a grin, "so, you and Aerith…?"

"yeah… sort of…" Zack said, scratching the back of his head as he blushed lightly.

"so it is true!!" Ash yelled, as giddy as a school girl, "yay! I'm so happy for you!"

"er… thanks?" Zack said, feeling a lot less uncomfortable when he heard her chuckle lightly, then he asked her, "so, did Blaze let you go?"

"yeah, all I had to do was talk to him about it, I'm glad he understands, and even more glad that neither of us was in love with the other," Ash said, giving Zack a smile, "he told me that if I proved to you that Leon was worthy then it was a done deal, all I have to do is give the ring to Fenrir."

"that simple?" Zack asked.

"yeah, that simple…" Ash said, hoping with all her heart that Leon would get along with Zack, because well… Zack was loud, Leon was not, Zack had his principles, and so did Leon, she wondered if they would hate each other or not.

The day came, and Leon was already planted in the hangar waiting expectantly for Ash's arrival, he had been dreaming of this day for a whole year, morning and night, he imagined all possibilities in his head, and so far is favorite was kissing her, oh how he missed it! Those soft lips pressed tight against his, sending waves and waves of euphoria into him, and what he missed more was her voice and the sound of her laughter, and at that moment all he wished for was to make her sit down and tell him all about her side of their one year apart.

The group joined him in their wait, Cid informing them that the ship should be there in minutes, they waited and waited and no ship came, just some breeze and strong wind, yet no ship, the day was cold in Hollow Bastion and even colder in the empty hangar, rain began to pour down on them and still they waited.

"Leon, it's getting cold… maybe we should go…" Aerith muttered to him, taking hold of his arm, he shrugged it away violently.

"No, she's coming back," Leon said forcefully, "I want to see…" Leon said quietly, then his voice went up a notch as he said her name, "Ash."

Then in a wave of silver the giant structure of Ash's ship stood before them, planted firmly in the ground as if it had been there for hours. Then the hatch above the staircase of said ship opened.

"you know, all Leon had to do was say my name…" came Ash's voice echoing out into the hangar, her voice was followed by a bark like laugh and a man appeared accompanied by Ash's, relatively petit in comparison, form. Instantaneously the two set out at a run, both heading towards the two men in the group before them. Ash's lips came crashing down on Leon's, then she pulled away muttering to him, assuring him of her love for him, his heart swelled in joy at her touch at the sound of her voice, at the sound of her giggle when he kissed her forcefully and told her he loved her. They pulled away to glance at the other two beside them.

The sight of what Zack had done still brought tears to Ash's eyes to this day. Zack's lips were glued onto Cloud's in a one sided passionate kiss, Zack was enjoying himself while Cloud's eyes were wide open and a faint blush stretched across his cheeks. The group gasped then burst into a fit of laughter as Zack pulled away with a proud grin in is face, soon enough Zack joined the group at the sight of Cloud's shocked face.

"you taste good," Zack commented jokingly when the blush seemed to have gotten a bit less apparent, yet it came back in full force at Zack's words. Zack gave him a grin then pulled him into a bear hug, Cloud seemed to have relaxed as he realized that Zack had been joking.

"where's Aerith?" Zack asked him, giving his friend a smile.

"she went home, something about making your favorite foods," Cloud answered, his blush finally fading away.

"foooood…" Ash and Zack said in unison, rubbing their stomachs. Zack glanced at Leon, he noticed how protectively he held Ash close to him, and how his eyes seemed to give a bright sparkle every time she giggled or laughed, and how happy Ash seemed to be so close to this man.

"Leon, I presume?" Zack said, putting out his hand to shake, he half expected the man not to respond for he seemed to be distant from the others in comparison to his behavior around Ash, yet the man surprised all who where there when he took Zack's hand and shook it.

"yeah, I'm Leon, and you must be Zack, I've heard so much about you," Leon said, giving the man a smile. Ash relaxed, it was a great start.

"oh Cloudy, you're just adorable!" Ash commented, at which Cloud flushed, it was he who spoke so often of Zack.

"great to meet ya, Leon," Zack said with a grin, "now you treat her good or else! Ya hear me?"

"there's no need to worry, I love her too much to do anything that would cause her any pain," Leon said, a brief glance in Ash's direction as she giggled.

"now the most important question…" Zack began, then he gave a serious look, Ash held her breath in anticipation, "is he good in bed?"

Leon's jaw dropped, his face a bright red, Cloud laughed behind Zack silently, while Ash laughed all out. The two were expecting something serious and important that would either set their plan in motion or wrench the two apart.

"no not really," Ash said jokingly, Leon's jaw dropped to the floor with a clang, his eyebrows set in a furious glare, "kidding kidding, sheesh, take it easy man!"

"answer the question, woman!!" Zack yelled at her.

"shut up, old man!!" Ash yelled back.

"no you shut up!!"

"you shut up!"

"quit yer bickerin'! get home already I need ma food!!" exclaimed Cid as he walked into the hangar.

"FOOD!!" Zack and Ash yelled in unison again and ran off towards home, then suddenly they turned around and zoomed back towards Cloud and Leon, took their hands and dragged them along.

She was finally home, finally there with him, she was by his side again, and he was free to hear her laugh, hear her talk, hear her sing, and feel her there next to him, and he loved every second of it.

* * *

short chapter? I KNOW! i'm really sorry, but school's got me busy, and i have to juggle between my old friends and my new ones. and my head is about to explode from a large amount of homework, exams and projects! so blame the teachers! not me!! rawr!! anyway, so Ash and Leon are back together!! i'd say this chapter did it's job, it told you a bit of the story, it had af funny bit in it, plus an exaggerated sad bit, and some kissing scenes, boy ob boy, girl on boy... it ALL works!! hehe please review!! :D


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter eighteen:**

"PANCAKES!!!" Yuffie's yell echoed down the hall, followed by the pitter patter of three different sets of foot steps, one being Ash, the other Zack, and the last was Yuffie. Leon rolled over in his bed, covering his head with the sheets, leaving him in a cocoon like wrapper; even though he loved pancakes, his body was in no shape to get up at such a time just to eat them. The door slammed open, followed by quick footsteps then suddenly something slammed into him, and his bed rocked ever so slightly. The thing, or person that slammed into him was currently resting on top of him, straddling his waist.

"Leony-poo, wakey wakey, pancakes to bakey..." Ash cooed, then suddenly, his sheets flew away from him, and he was left lying there shirtless, with eyes about to cry from the pain of the light, but thankfully Ash had the sense to block the light's path to his face, and he was left to bask in the cold morning air of winter in Hollow Bastion, even so, he felt, unbelievably, warm, for the mother of all heat sources was laying atop him, his eyes slowly fluttered open, only to rest on, what was to him, the heavenly sight of Ash's beautiful face, which was grinning down at him mischievously.

"Hey..." he said groggily, rubbing his eyes as he attempted to rub out the sleep from them. His hands fell next to him, and Ash pinned him down, she leaned forward, letting her lips brush against his skin, "Ash..." he murmured, she moved herself down slightly, letting her torso rest against his, then her lips brushed his as she muttered his name, "I missed this..."

"well, that makes the two of us..." she said, giggling mischievously, she leaned down and gave him a deep passionate kiss, and just as it was getting better for the two of them, the door was thrown wide open,

"Would you two sickos get off of each other so we can eat?" Zack ordered, but as Ash turned to him, a mischievous glint in her eyes, he expected what was coming, she leaned down, and gave Leon a deep kiss, her hand going past his chest and fiddling with the straps of his pants, "on second thoughts... oh gawd! I lost my appetite!!"

And he set off at a run to the bathroom, Ash laughed lightly, turned to Leon with a grin, a gesture he returned in his own way. Her arms wrapped around his neck.

"I sure missed home." She said, the tone of her voice told him she meant it, his arms instinctively wrapped around her, home is where the Heart is, literally, because he was in Hollow Bastion and her Heart and Soul were both with him, "c'mon let's get up and eat!" She jumped off the bed, pranced off towards the bathroom currently in use by Zack, "oh Zacky poo!! We've done our business, so I guess I can answer your question now!!"

"ugh!!" through the wooden door separating Ash and Zack, Leon could hear Zack mock-throwing-up, Ash laughed quietly, then began to explicitly explain to Zack how Leon pleases her, and exactly how much, and for a moment, Leon thought Zack was actually throwing up, though the sounds of him regurgitating were joined by Yuffie's yells.

"NO!! I'M TOO YOUNG TO HEAR THIS!!! I DOWANNA LOOSE MY INNOCENCE TO THIS!!"

"You? Innocent? Ha! Are you kidding me??" Ash mocked, "If you're as innocent as a five year old then I'm a freakin' newborn!!"

"What the...?" Cloud walked out of his room, he glanced at the bathroom, and then a thoughtful look crossed his face, "where's Zack?"

"CLOUD!!" Zack yelled, then the door of the bathroom slammed open and out he came, running as fast as he can, and as expected he had been mock throwing up, but what was unexpected to everyone but Ash; Zack pounced on Cloud, his arms wrapping around Cloud's neck and his legs wrapped around his waist, Cloud staggered slightly, one hand on Zack's back, while the other helped him stand up straight as it rested on the doorway.

"Z-Zack?" Cloud muttered in shock, a deep crimson blush spread across his face. Ash grinned big, and Aerith walked out of her room dressed in her pink outfit, she shook her head lightly at the sight of the blond and raven-haired couple.

"Either Cloud is gay, or he's Bi too..." Ash muttered quietly, then she glanced at Leon, "Leon, I'm Bi, is that okay with you?"

"Sure, as long as you don't cheat on me with Yuffie," Leon answered calmly, the same mischievous smirk that appeared on his face was mirrored on Ash's.

"Are you Bi, Leon?" Ash questioned him, walking towards him with a small playful grin on her face.

"No, not really," he answered calmly, "I'm pretty sure I'm straight,"

"Aw, you're just adorable!!" she cooed.

"Demeaning..." he muttered, closing his eyes as he shook his head.

"Demeaning or not, it's a complement," Ash said, trying to fight for a lost cause.

"And that's saying something," Zack muttered jokingly, a grin on his face, "so how 'bout we eat?"

"I thought you lost your appetite?" Ash wondered mockingly, "but hey, you're Zack, and Zack does have a big black hole for a stomach!"

"Oi! Don't insult me!!" Zack threatened.

"It's a compliment," Ash said, shrugging her shoulders.

"And that's saying something," Leon mimicked, a playful grin on his face. The group trudged down the stairs, Leon leaning on Ash, as she clumsily walked down the stairs.

Breakfast was as delicious as always, Zack, Ash and Yuffie had provided the others with a mighty feast, they had cooked pancakes, beacon and eggs, omelets and a variety of other foods. The group enjoyed themselves as they chatted happily. Soon enough they had to get ready for another try at eliminating the Heartless in Hollow Bastion.

Ash and Leon went to their room to prepare themselves, and as they did so, Leon had a thoughtful expression on his face, which soon transformed into anxiety, Ash, of course, noticed this.

"Lion King," another strange nickname, "what's up?" she asked, turning to him. He did not reply, he simply continued to pull on his jacket, the expression never fading.

"Leon," her tone now serious, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he replied, his tone of voice betraying him, as his hands dropped to his sides.

"You know, you're a worse lair than me," she said jokingly, she wrapped her arms around him, pulling herself closer to him; the same famous grin on her face.

"It's just..." Leon began, then pulling to a stop. Ash waited for him to continue, but he did not.

"spit it out already!" she ordered, he sighed, dropping down to sit on his bed, then wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his head against her side, he sighed again, "Leon, don't make me hurt you..."

"Okay, okay... I'll tell you," Leon said, a hint of mock panic in his voice, "it's just that I don't want you to-"

"Fight Heartless?" Ash continued his sentence; his over protectiveness was so predictable, "don't get all over protective on me! If you wanna be overprotective, go ahead, but within reason! I mean, it's not like I'm gonna die or anything!!" the look on Leon's face proved Ash right, what she said was exactly what was on his mind. She sighed and sat down next to him, pulling him to a one arm hug, "look, Leon... I understand why you're getting over protective, I mean, I'm not exactly the most balanced person in the world, so I don't mind it, but if it starts to make you want to stop me from doing things, like fighting, cooking, shooting, and pranking... well, let's just say I'll be sharpening my sword at night..."

He chuckled half heartedly, and then sighed again, "I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm not gonna get hurt, love, and even if I falter, I know you'll be there to save me," she said seductively, giving him a grin, he returned the gesture proudly, as if happy she relied on him with her life.

"Ash?"

"Yes, Lion-made-of-honey?"

"I missed you."

"As if you wouldn't! Dude! I'm your everything!"

"Uh, how'd you know?"

"Everyone knows, love, it's mutual."

"Really? I'm honored."

"No, you're adorable."

"And that's demeaning..."

"Sure, sure... let's get going."

"Yes, ma'ame..."

"I like you..."

"That's another thing that's mutual..." She giggled lightly at his comment as they entered the living room at last.

"The lovebirds finally arrive." Zack stated sarcastically.

"da memerds miiamilly awive.. blah blah blah, bite me, gay-dude..." Ash snapped jokingly.

"hooo, feisty aren't we?" he turned to her, arms crossed. Leon sat down next to Cloud, chatting quietly with him about a battle strategy.

"Don't make me hurt you," Ash threatened.

"I'm sooo scared." Zack mocked, five seconds later, Ash was chasing Zack around town, cursing at him as well as mocking him loudly.

"ZACK, YOU F***ING BA$TAAD!! I'LL SHOW YOU!!"

"I JUST PEED MY PANTS FROM FEAR!"

"THAT'S NOT THE ONLY THING YOU'LL BE DOING WHEN I CATCH YOU!"

"WHAT? ARE YOU GONNA MAKE ME WEAR A CROWN AND DRESS UP AS A PRINCESS??"

"A CROWN? I'LL SHOVE YOUR CROWN UP YOUR-"

"WATCH YOUR MOUTH!"

"LOOK WHO'S BLOODY TALKING!!"

"I'M NOT THE ONE THROWING FILTHY WORDS IN FRONT OF YOUNGSTERS!"

"LIKE YOU CARE!"

"I CARE!"

"THAT'S ONLY 'CAUSE CLOUD AND AEIRTH ARE WATCHING!"

"N-NO... UH... WE'LL SEE WHAT LEON'LL THINK ONCE HE-"

"HE WOULDN'T GIVE A SH**, HE LIKES ME THE WAY I AM!!"

"THAT'S ONLY BECAUSE HE'S SCARED OF YOU!"

"HA HA! YOUR CONTRADICTING YOUSELF!!"

"WHADDYA MEAN??"

"FIVE SECONDS AGO YOU WERE MOCKING ME, SAYING I AINT SCARY!"

"AFTER THE 'PG-13 IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT' MOMENT, OF COURSE I'LL BE SCARED!!"

And such insults kept flying around town, until both of them were tired form laughing and running, but mainly because they ran out of casual insults. Once near the dark depths, they took their battle stations, Ash and Aerith on top of a cliff, Ash's objective was to shoot potentially threatening Heartless, while Aerith's job was to insure Health and MP for each fighter. Zack, Leon and Cloud were amongst the heartless, all of them were to chop and hack off Heartless limbs until their hands were sore from it all. Yuffie was to jump from one place to another, killing off as much Heartless as she could. But Cid and Merlin stayed at home to work on the town's Defense System.

Aerith sent a cure spell to Cloud, who was bleeding so badly that he left a trail behind him. Ash shot another row of Heartless killing the two about to harm Zack and Leon, who were apparently fighting back to back.

"Aw they're so adora-"

"WATCH OUT!!" yelled Cloud pointing up to Ash and Aerith's position, everyone looked up, and to Ash it seemed like everything was moving in slow motion, she reached down to her waist to pull out her sword as she turned around from her crouching position, but the heartless that had appeared behind her kicked it, and it was sent hurtling in mid air. It drove another kick to Ash, who was caught off guard, sending her reeling off the cliff, she aimed at it with her gun as she slowly dropped, firing at it and finishing it off.

Leon's heart felt like it was falling, falling alongside Ash. In a burst of adrenaline, Leon rushed into the herd of Heartless, following Ash's falling form; he slashed all the heartless in his path, just to get to Ash. His whole body praying for whatever god was out there to save her, or at least to help him get there on time. Luckily, he managed to get there on time, yet he only felt the sudden impact and then he was on the ground with Ash on top of him, ironically enough, when she sat up she was straddling his waist, but to her dissatisfaction she had to duck down into him, a large Heartless had jumped above them in the hope to smack her in the face with it's weapon. She pulled up her gun and fired three gunshots, one past his head, and another to the left, and one to the sky, killing a dozen Heartless minimum.

"Good catch, love." Ash muttered with a grin, winking at Leon. He smiled at her, then pulled himself up once she got off of him, but instantaneously took hold of her hand, as if to tell himself that she was really there, alive and happy, as if she was his life line, if she went down, so would he.

"Let's go," Leon muttered, doing a sweep of the area around them; the Heartless seemed to be moving towards them, sure, there were groups around Cloud, Zack and the others, but they were gathering around Ash and Leon like bees to honey, like Heartless to a bond so tight, a bond even darkness cannot break.

"wait," Ash suddenly said, pulling Leon back to her, he turned to her with a confused expression, which immediately vanished once she made herself clear, her lips pressed tightly against his, passionately yet quickly she managed to tell him how much she adored him. They pulled away, a deep twinkle in Leon's eyes as they set off towards her sword, slashing and stabbing, and all the while Zack was watching the two, carefully evaluating how much Leon's need to guaranty Ash's safety was prominent, and in the end he was sure that no man could suit Ash more than this man, throughout his whole time in Hollow Bastion, he could easily notice how very much in love they were, it was all in the little gestures, even though the big ones were still very apparent, he noticed that wherever Ash went Leon went, as if to catch her if and when she falls, he noticed that the two of them knew each other better than anyone else, even Leon seemed to notice things about Ash that she had not noticed, he also noted that practically everything Leon does was for Ash or because of Ash or would somehow affect Ash, he noticed that, even though they were in love, dealing with them was not like dealing with some love-sick puppies, too whiney, too lovey-dovey to handle. He noticed that Leon was prepared to give up everything for Ash, and that he seemed to live to see her smile, to hear her laugh, to feel her there beside him, and vice versa. And he also noticed that Ash would smile whenever she talked about him or heard about him or thought of him, and if he was there... well it was hard to ignore the brilliant sparkle in her eyes.

Zack sat quietly on the roof of the group's house, soundlessly thinking over and over about Ash and Leon, Blaze had assigned him one last job: to make sure Leon was able to protect, provide and more importantly, love Ash as much as she deserves and needs. So far he was pretty sure that Leon was 'all the above', and he seemed to have all the qualities Ash deemed 'Perfect', though they contradicted on certain things but they were too few to count.

"Zack?" Leon's voice came from behind, startling him for a moment, Leon was not the person he expected.

"Lion-boy," he answered, calling Leon by one of Ash's many nicknames for him.

"What're you doing up here?" he asked, then added mockingly, "being alone isn't your type of thing, so where's Cloud?"

"downstairs stealing cookies from Ash's cookie jar," Zack answered calmly, then, as well, added mockingly, "where's Ash?"

"downstairs making sure Cloud doesn't steal cookies from her cookie jar," Leon answered proudly, "mind if I join?"

"'course not!" Zack replied as Leon plopped down next to him, "bet you Cloud'd win and get his cookies,"

"No, Ash'd win! She's stronger than she seems, plus she'd easily distract Cloud by making him blush or by teasing him." Leon said confidently, grinning with pride, Zack nodded in agreement; Ash would always have her way, one way or another. The two sat in silence for a moment, a silence that Zack interrupted.

"you know," he began seriously, Leon tilted his head towards Zack yet he kept his eyes on the moon, the floating orb in the sky reminded him, for some reason, of Ash, her black so similar to the darkness surrounding the moon, the stars were much like the shine of her hair under the light, the moon itself was her face, her immediate glow when she spots him. Zack cleared his throat and repeated his words then continued, "Blaze gave me one last assignment before I left for Hollow Bastion."

Leon remained silent, and nodded as if to give Zack the sign to continue talking.

"You see, back on Xenotol and even here before the Heartless ever came," Zack began, "Ash, Blaze and I were a team. Of everyone who knew Ash, personally or by name, Blaze and I knew her best, along with Sierra, seeing as Sierra has become inseparable from Blaze because they finally got together, Blaze saw it fit to give me said assignment," Zack took a deep breath, "he wanted me to make sure that the guy Ash ends up with is the perfect guy, the guy that makes her laugh, the guy that can protect her, they that can make her feel as happy as you make her feel..."

"What are you...?" Leon trailed off, understanding what Zack was saying.

"what I'm saying is," Zack began, "she is yours, emotionally, physically, and even..." a silence followed after, as the moon seemed to be holding its breath, waiting for Zack's next words, "and even legally."

Leon almost burst from joy, he jumped off the roof and down into the backyard, too happy to use the staircase, he raced towards the back door that led into the kitchen, slammed it open and bolted in.

"Just gimmie one cookie!! Pleeeease!!" Cloud begged, standing at the other side of the table, eyeing the cookie jar Ash held closely to her chest.

"No! No! I'm not giving you any of my-" Ash couldn't finish her sentence, and Cloud barely managed to get a glimpse of Leon as he skidded into the room and tackled (more like glomped) Ash into the ground. The cookie jar flew out of Ash's hands as she fell to the floor, Cloud's eyes glued to the precious container; he reached forward and caught it in his hands. He glanced down at its former holder; Ash was pinned to the ground under Leon, who was busily kissing her, she was too happy to care where they were, and Cloud understood it was obvious from Leon's apparent joy; Zack had finally done it. The sight of the two lovers made Cloud wish he had someone he would love and be loved by in return, made him wish he had a relationship like Ash and Leon's.

The man shrugged carelessly and bounded up the stairs, racing to the rooftop in order to share his cookies with Zack.

To Ash, it was all a blur, one moment she was arguing with Cloud about the cookies, and the next she was pinned under Leon, who was kissing her in a heart-fluttering, brain-clouding, mind-boggling way. And just from the way he pounced on her like he was too happy to care, and from the way he was kissing her, passionately and aggressively pleasing, she had to admit that Leon was full of surprises. She wondering what caused his sudden joy and happiness –not that she minded, of course- and then she understood, the only thing she and Leon were waiting on was Zack's 'okay', obviously that's what made him so happy and so eager to get to her. Ash pulled away, flipping over so that she was the one on top.

"Leon?" Ash muttered, purposely brushing her lips against his as she muttered his name, knowing full well that it drove him insane, he struggled against her hold but she was one step ahead, she leaned down and gave him a kiss, though she ended it too quickly.

"Ash..." he groaned, shutting his eyes in frustration, but as soon as he heard her giggle, his mind was cleared, but his lips were eager to get a hold of hers, she fulfilled his wish for a while longer, but she soon pulled away.

"What did he say?" Ash questioned, but Leon managed to free himself, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her towards him, her lips meeting his at last, what he made her feel answered the question.

* * *

please review!! :D i miss my stories getting reviews from you guys!! so please review and tell me what you think!! and i'm purtay sure this chapter was not as great as the ones before, because i havent been writing or reading in a while, working on the thing i call my social life and all... moving on, PLEASE review!! :D Zen, dont kill me, okay? People, dont murder me in my bed for the late update... okay?

yours,

ZeXin/Xayn.


	19. Chapter 19 Finale

this isnt exactly the best I've written so far, but I really had to get this one out of my brain so I can start other stuff, Like... maybe... a sequel to Cloudless Sky? maybe... oh and please review! and include you're favorite scene or simply favorite chapter, please? thanks a lot, people!! you all deserve cookies for not giving up on me or this story... :D :D Promise you'l review! promise? pinky promise? promise on Leon and Ash's 'future' children?? :D :D hehehe. enjoy the read! :D

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**Chapter Nineteen:**

"What do you think, Ash?" Aerith questioned, pulling at the rim of Ash's wedding dress, then standing up to fasten it around her waist, Ash slowly turned around only to see herself in the mirror, her face was covered with least bit of make-up, by request of Leon, he wanted her to be 'as beautiful as she naturally is,' and "not fake and covered up in some muck people excuse as make-up!" yet Aerith couldn't help herself and forced Ash to put on some black eyeliner and clear lip gloss, plus white eye shadow. But her hair was left alone, for some reason, it had gotten these twirls at its ends by itself, and so Aerith tied up half of Ash's hair with a white ribbon, while the other half hung down her back.

Ash smiled happily, for the first time for such a reason, as she stared at her dress, white as a dove and beautiful, it had straps that only covered the shoulder, around her legs hung two layers, one was the actual continuation of the dress, while the other was an add-on. The first layer, the one underneath the second, was a creamy white, simple and beautiful, it was the type that would flow around Ash if she twirled around, this was a request of her own, and the second layer was covered beautifully in white feathers, also a request of Leon's.

A few seconds later, Yuffie, who was also wearing a cobalt dress just like Aerith's for the two of them were her maids of honor, came bounding into the room, , happy and chipper as always if not more, all because it was Ash and Leon's wedding, the wedding that they've all been waiting for. For a couple of moments, Yuffie simply blabbed incomprehensibly in utter joy and happiness, and after a while she calmed down and handed Ash her flowers, a bunch of white and cobalt roses, and then she handed her a a paper bag, muttering something about 'another pair of shoes', at which Aerith instantly protested, for in said paper bag, rested a pair of all-white converse.

"Ash!! What the hell ARE those??" Aerith exclaimed in rage.

"Shoes, obviously!!"

"No, really?"

"No, I'm being serious, these are shoes, you know, you put them on your feet and you walk around in the-"

"I KNOW WHAT THEY ARE!! I meant, what are they doing here?" Aerith questioned angrily.

"Well, you see, Uhh, I'll put this simply, me + high heels = chaos, and so as to make sure that there'd be no chaos, this equation will be exchanged right after the dance into; me + converse = no chaos, see? I am smart and creative!!" Ash remarked, rather pleased of herself, though she was obviously doing all of this just for the sake of annoying Aerith, because it was so rare to see her angry.

"Ladies!! Sorry to cut in but us gentlemen want to talk to the bride-to-be in private if you don't mind!" came Zack's voice through the door after a short knock, and soon enough, Aerith and Yuffie were replaced by Zack and Cloud, who both stood side by side awkwardly, not knowing what to say exactly, but as soon as Ash gave them her trademark grin, the two relaxed; Cloud jumped off to the coach and sat down, while Zack sat on the armrest of Cloud's chair.

"So, how are you feeling?" Ash questioned the two, instantly, Cloud gave a smirk and Zack gave a low chuckle.

"Aren't we supposed to ask you that?" Zack said.

"Well aren't you witty? I mean, do I look like i know what to say in this type of situation?" Ash retorted, "'cause really I got experience that amounts to nil in all of this…"

"Calm down, deary…" Zack muttered, smirking at Ash's reaction to him calling her 'deary'.

"deary? Seriously??"

"Ahem, back to the point, calm down, it's all gonna be okay, after all you are marrying Leon!... Leon! I mean… Leon!! Get it??"

"Yep, I get it!" she gave a wide grin, as if proud of him.

"Anyway, we're here to give you your early wedding gift," Cloud muttered, blushing slightly, and a perverted grin appeared on Zack's face, instantly Ash felt incredibly uncomfortable, because the reason behind their reactions was definitely not good.

"Oh you're so gonna loooove it!!" he said beaming perversely up at her, and when the box, that she hadn't noticed up until now, opened, she truly felt uncomfortable, in front of her, in that velvety red box lay a two-piece red lingerie, the top being half-translucent and tied in place with a very delicate string, and the bottom being a very painful-to-wear red thong, both intricately designed, "the lady said it was easy to rip, which gives Leon an easier time when you two are getting down and-"

"SHUT UP!!" Ash yelled aloud in shock, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING WITH THAT THING?? WHAT'S GOTTEN INTO YOU?? I AM GONNA KILL YOU TWO!! PERVERTS!!!" and she managed to tackle them to the ground, and as soon as she was done with them she stood up and dusted herself off, then turned to check herself in the mirror, over her shoulder she could see a pair of two bodies that vaguely looked like the remains of Cloud and Zack, yet both of them had red rags in their mouths, and covered in several bruises all over, she sighed slightly, then said jokingly, "but I gotta say… I taught you well!" and she gave a wink.

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The doors to the castle burst open, the people fell silent instantly, and they all stood up and turned to survey the incoming group. In the large crowd, one could easily spot Kiari's, Sora's and Riku's faces, grinning happily, with the ghost-like outline of a blond couple standing over them, one could also spot Goofy's and Donald's faces, along with their great King and Queen, and many others of their dear friends. First came out Yuffie and Cid, both looking happy and chipper, soon followed by Cloud and Tifa -also wearing a cobalt dress-, who looked just as happy, but Cloud held a light blush on his face, Zack and Aerith came out after them, Zack sporting his usual grin, and Aerith had a small gracious smile.

And finally, Ash came out with Angeal by her side, playing the role of her father, she would have chosen Cid, yet Angeal fit the profile better, he was more of a father figure than anything. She was simply glowing out of pure happiness, her face alone showed how excited and pleased she was, after all, she was resisting the urge to run down the aisle and stand next to her man. Speaking of which, he was wearing an all white tuxedo, with a cobalt tie, to go with the theme of white and cobalt, his eyes sparkled with delight at the sight of her, a grin instantly appeared on his face, he turned to her gazing at her with pure joy, patiently waiting for her to reach him, and as she made her way, he slowly began to comprehend how much he loved her, and how lucky he was to be able to marry her, to be able to spend the rest of his life with her by his side.

when she finally reached him, he took hold of her hand, tightly grasping it, enjoying it's ethereal warmth, the man before them, Yen Sid, spoke dully and that effect was tripled due to their eagerness, but the two did not mind, they could spend a life time standing there, as long as they were side by side. And when he finally reached the vows, Ash began first…

"Darling, Lion-boy," she began, a wave of chuckles came from the crowd, "as sensitive, strange, quiet, shy, strong, powerful, impressive, dramatic, romantic, incredible, amazing, lone-wolfish, brilliant, determined, proud, handsome, smexy, fun, occasionally perverted, perfect and awesome as you are," she said, then turned to the crowd, "notice they are all positive??" another chuckle, then she faced him again, "I love you, I love everything about you, even your strange reluctance of eating cookies, and your lack of enthusiasm for speed, and your abnormal habit of forgetting to get potions and elixirs for yourself yet still remembering to bug me for my own forgetfulness, and your ability to be here, there and everywhere, especially when I need you to save me. Just the thought of being without you brings me to tears, love. and imagine what I'd do to any girl who tries to lay a hand on you."

"Ash, you came into my life quiet unexpectedly, 'stumbling into you' would fit the prescription, at first I thought you were just another girl, another damsel in distress, seeking attention, yet you instantly proved me wrong, you didn't show your tears to any of us, you didn't show how broken-up you were, yet you showed us a happy, cheerful and brilliantly perverted side of you, that we all learned to love, a side that I eventually fell in love with, a side of you that not a day passed by without me yearning for its presence, not a day passed by without me missing it, loving it, and enjoying it, though you occasionally made me want to stab myself from embarrassment or anger. although the anger was rare; as rare as you getting into some form of trouble, like falling off a cliff; which was the only reason for me to be angry at you… all I'm saying is, spending one single day without you would be torturous for me and everyone around me, because 'cranky and pissed off' are every light words to describe me then."

And they sealed their vows with a kiss, a kiss that was the start of a beautiful era for the two of them. The group shifted into another place, trailing down the path that led to the outside ballroom, the music started, the people shifted, clearing room for the couple to dance their first dance. Ash took hold of the rim of her feathery dress and pulled it away, it flew up behind her and fell down to the floor, yet that was all in slow motion to Leon's eyes, for as she threw it behind her, it was momentarily suspended in the air, hanging right behind her, under her arms, like a pair of wings, completing Leon's vision. He grinned happily, she was truly an angel in his eyes, a perverted angel with a temper at that. The two danced slowly, to the music, enjoying it more than they should.

"I'm happy," Ash muttered in his ear.

"so am I," he said with a chuckle, "wonder why…"

And as the song came to an end, people moved in to dance as well, first was Aerith and Zack; Aerith had a smile on her face, while Zack had an ear-to-ear grin, then came Cloud and Tifa; Tifa was smiling happily while Cloud was blushing shyly. Eventually the music turned a little less formal, and they all began to dance in a huge circle, every now and then someone would jump into the middle and dance ridiculously. For example, Ash came first, she jumped up and down, danced the chicken dance followed by and Egyptian style dance, Leon came afterwards, he danced like he was in the 80's and 70's, shaking his arms about and moving like a hippie, he was soon followed by Zack, who did an Elvis Presley impersonation, Cloud was a head banger with an air guitar, which was hilarious because he was so good at it, Tifa was a belly dancer, and Yuffie was a cheerleader. Not a moment passed without them all crying from laughter.

After a while, the dance floor was cleared, because some people came or even sent entertainment of their own kind. Firstly, a large Fish bowl was carried onto the stage, they killed the lights, and then the spot light focused on the bowl and finally they saw what –or who- was in the bowl, instantaneously the melodious voice of Ariel coursed throughout the area, as she sang a song she had written about Ash and Leon, words such as "Eyes like Emerald," and "the Pride and Beauty of a lion," "a bond invincible," and "their love became their strength", were mentioned in the song. Soon after that, a hundred dogs came onto the stage, at first the entire audience had no idea what these Dalmatians where to do, but they began to bark, and eventually make music, it was shocking and wonderful, Leon almost cried from joy, almost. They were soon followed by a quartet of skeleton-like men, and they soon began to dance and sing a song of a love lost at sea. Jack the skeleton soon came after, he had magic tricks of every kind, and he attempted to strike fear into Leon's and Ash's Hearts, but all he got was laughter from Ash and a smirk from Leon, as if no matter what he did they would never be afraid; as long as they were together. After that, Cloud, Zack, Aerith, Tifa, Cid, Sora, Kairi, Riku, Donald, Goofy, Yuffie, and Merlin, all came on stage, each held a microphone in their hands, behind them a slideshow began,

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Dogs and Cats, Villains and Heroes, Gays and Straights, Boys and Girls, Pirates and Mermaids, Wizards and Robots; We are all gathered here to watch Ash and Leon get married-" Merlin Began, a picture of a wedding cake with a Chocobo dressed in an Afro wig and a bow tie, and a female Moogle dressed in a white veil while holding a bouquet of red roses, the Chocobo representing Leon, while the Moogle represented Ash, it was, in fact their own wedding cake.

"FINALLY!! I mean, really! We've all been waiting for these two to get together! After all the things that happened between these two, they are finally getting married! Legally bound!" Tifa cut in, grinning broadly in joy.

"true, but see, to me these two getting married was a distant dream, because it took them a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very long time. I mean, I was there for almost every second, and it was very hard not to notice," said Sora, and as he spoke the images began to change, showing different scenes and events.

"The way Leon's eyes light up when she came into the room," said Riku, the pictures momentarily pause to show a picture of Ash ducking behind a cupboard as Leon attempted to spray her with maple syrup. Then they picture's resumed changing.

"The way Ash seems to glow when Leon was nearby,' Goofy added, a picture of Leon in hott Pink hair and Ash in Silver hair came up for a moment, then the stream of pictures continued.

"The way Leon instinctively smiles whenever Ash is laughing hysterically -and she almost always is- even though he doesnt know why she is laughing in the first place," said Kairi, a picture of the group playing Truth or Dare, an agitated, red-faced Cloud could be seen, frowning down at a half eaten plate full of red peppers splashed with chili sauce, Yuffie and Ash seemed to be having a fit of giggles, while Aerith held a large glass of water, if the need for it arose, mean while a madly chuckling Leon, seemed to be encouraging Cloud to continue.

"The way Ash can easily make Leon go red in the face without even trying," Donald added, a picture of a grinning Ashley tackling blushing Leon came on.

"the way Leon always seems to try to impress her with everything he does, and we all know how that ends up," Aerith said, shaking her head, a picture of a blushing Leon laying in a hospital bed, with a mock-angry Ash standing nearby.

"To put it simply, the two practically live for each other."Zack finished, the pictures continued changing.

"I have to admit, at first I didn't really believe the two could fall for each other." Cloud confessed.

"Oh, can it, Cloud! You're one to talk!" Donald burst in.

"Donald! Concentrate!" yelled Sora from the sidelines.

"Oh, right!" said Donald, scrambling around with a piece of paper in hand, as he read "really? I thought that it was obvious!"

"And perfect!" piped up Goofy.

"Well you see, it's because they are so different from each other!" Sora added.

"Complete opposites!" Aerith exclaimed.

"Oh!! Y'mean, the fact that's she's always laughing and he's always grouching?" Kairi suggested.

"That she's always dancing and frolicking while he's always fighting and stomping around?" Zack added.

"That she's always falling and stumbling while he seems to be far too graceful and strong for his own good?" Tifa added.

"That she lives her life likes she's in love with it, while he sits and broods, and is always a Kill-joy?" added Yuffie.

"Basically, yeah, that's pretty much what I'm talking about. But you do have a point, opposites attract, well… in most cases…"Cloud said, muttering the last bit fearfully as he glanced towards Cid and Yuffie.

"OY! WHAT'RE YOU LOOKING AT??" Cid yelled at Cloud.

"Uhh… nothing, nothing…" Cloud muttered, hiding behind Zack.

"Welp to simply put it, we are almost as happy about this marriage as they are…" Aerith said, smiling happily.

"almost." Added Sora.

"And all I have to say about this, is the following… LEON YOU BETTER TAKE DAMN GOOD CARE OF HER OR SO HELP ME GOD I'LL HUNT YOU DOWN, PEAL OFF YOU'RE FLESH WITH MY BARE HANDS! YOU HEAR ME?" Zack yelled, mock angry.

"Y-yeah… I h-hear you…" said Leon, from his position next to Ash, who was laughing hysterically and patting him on the shoulder as if to comfort him, which wasn't exactly helping.

The day ended with a final dance for the couple, and then a big group dance. Eventually everyone slowly trailed away, only to shift to the hangar, to see the take off of the Ragnarok as it took off with the Honeymooners. It first went to Disney Castle, then to Destiny Islands, Twilight Town, Pride Lands, Atlantica, Port Royal, Wonderland, Land of Dragons, Halloween Town and they finished it off with Olympus Coliseum. A fairly eventful Honeymoon, for an interesting pair of honeymooners, don't you think?

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REVIEW!!!!!!

please? :D hehehe.


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